Miditel

Cancelled

Miditel was awarded a concession to operate as a national and international long distance carrier in May 1996. Miditel was one of the eight companies that obtained a concession to operate as long distance carrier between 1995 and 1996. Such licenses were issued as part of Mexican liberalization of its telecommunications market. Miditel was a consortium owned by Korea Telecom and Antonio Canahuati. Miditel's project consisted of building a national satellite network for telephony and data services. The total project cost was estimated as $265 million of which $20 million were invested in 1996 and $56.5 million in 1997, according to Comision Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel), the Mexican regulatory agency for telecommunications. Miditel awarded Direct-to-Phone International, STM Wireless subsidiary, a 10 year service contract for the provision of its national satellite network. Under the contract, Direct-to-phone was required to install, at least, 7,500 satellite phone lines in an initial 2,500 locations. The installations were scheduled for completion by December 1999. In the auction of four band for PCS services in the nine regions of Mexico by Cofetel in 1997, Miditel won the band B in the region 7 and the band E in the regions 2, 6, and 9 for PCS services. The company offered to pay US$ 71 million (651 million pesos) for the PCS licenses. The company also won two bands (B and E) in all the regions for Wireless Local Loop offered by Cofetel in 1998. Miditel offered to pay US$ 40 million for the Wireless Local Loop spectrum. But, the company was unable to pay its spectrum fees by end 1998 and asked Cofetel for a second extension until March 1999. In May 1999, the company had its wireless license revoked after it failed to pay US$ 22 million in interest charges on an outstanding balance of US$ 135.9 million it owned on the national license fee. In 2001, Miditel did not account with Korea Telecom as a partner which quit from the venture on grounds that it would not be able to meet a $500 million investment commitment. In 2001, Mexico's Transport & Communications Secretariat ruled that Miditel cannot receive mobile licenses that it won in 1998. In 2003, a federal judge in Mexico gave Miditel one year to reach an agreement with creditors before being declared bankrupt. The country's dominant telephone company Telmex brought the lawsuit against Miditel to recover unpaid debts. In 2003, Telmex cut service to Miditel with the authorization of the communications ministry.