Carlos Slim Helu And His Telecommunications

Carlos Slim Helú also known as Carlos Slim is a Mexican engineer, businessman and philanthropist largely focused on the telecommunications industry. He was born in Mexico City, Mexico. His father, Julián Slim Haddad arrived in Mexico in 1902 from Lebanon and Carlos Slim’s mother, Linda Helú was born in Parral. In August 1926, Julián Slim and Linda Helú married in Mexico City and they had six children, of whom Carlos was the youngest boy.

Slim has a substantial influence over the telecommunications industry in Mexico and much of Latin America. He controls Teléfonos de México (Telmex), Telcel and América Móvil companies. Though he maintains an active involvement in his companies, his three sons—Carlos, Marco Antonio and Patrick Slim Domit—head them on a day-to-day basis.

Then, Slim has been vice-president of the Mexican Stock Exchange and president of the Mexican Association of Brokerage Houses. He was the first president of the Latin-American Committee of the New York Stock Exchange Administration Council, and was in office from 1996 through 1998.

He was on the Board of Directors of the Altria Group (previously Philip Morris; he resigned in April 2006) and Alcatel. Slim currently sits on the Board of Directors for Philip Morris International. He was on the Board of Directors of SBC Communications until July 2004 to devote more time to the World Education & Development Fund, which focused on infrastructure, health and education projects. He built the large Mexican financial-industrial conglomerate Grupo Carso which controls, among other companies, Sanborns (a prestigious food chain in Mexico), Mixup (music retail), Sears Mexico, Cigatam, Condumex and Grupo Hotelero Hostam and had indirect control over the CompUSA electronics retail chain.

On December 8, 2007, Grupo Carso announced that the remaining 103 CompUSA stores would be either liquidated or sold, bringing an end to the struggling company. After 28 years he became the Honorary Lifetime Chairman of the business. He is also Chairman of Teléfonos de Mexico, América Móvil, and Grupo Financiero Inbursa.

Beside,  Slim would overtake the owner of Force India, Vijay Mallya, to become the richest team owner in a sport famous for being a playground for the super wealthy.

It has taken Carlos Slim Helú 44 years of his life to build Grupo Carso, of which he is now Honorary Life Chairman, a position he also holds at Telmex, América Móvil and Grupo Financiero Inbursa. Although he continues to conduct business activities today, his primary focus is on the foundations he leads, thus his three sons, Carlos, Marco Antonio and Patrick Slim Domit, have taken over the reins of the businesses.

They were founded in 1965 with the acquisition of the bottling company Jarritos del Sur and the establishment of several other companies such as Casa de Bolsa Inversora Bursátil, Inmobiliaria Carso, Constructora Carso, Promotora del Hogar, S.S.G. Inmobiliaria, Mina de Agregados Pétreos el Volcán, Bienes Raíces Mexicanos and Pedregales del Sur, as well as a buy-sell-lease company for construction equipment. At the end of the 1960s, several pieces of property were bought in the southern part of Mexico City, totaling approximately 2 million square meters, and were expropriated in 1989.

In June 1976 Galas de México was acquired. In 1980 the corporation that is today Grupo Carso was officially incorporated in order to obtain the majority stake in Cigatam, in which Philip Morris was a 29% partner.

In 1985 Grupo Carso acquired control of Artes Gráficas Unidas, Fábricas de Papel Loreto y Peña Pobre, and the majority of Sanborns and its affiliate Dennys.

At the end of 1990, Grupo Carso, together with Southwestern Bell, France Telecom and several Mexican investors, won the bid to privatize Teléfonos de México. When Grupo Carso bought 5.8% of Telmex at its privatization, it already had 25 years of successful business experience; Southwestern Bell acquired 5% and an option for an additional 5%, France Telecom 5% and a group of Mexican investors an additional 4.6%. Including Cigatam, the Grupo Carso companies have been publicly traded since 1981 and their history can be reconstructed through public information.

Grupo Carso has partially or fully sold several companies, such as tissue paper producers, tire companies, several hotels, printing and packaging businesses, part of Cigatam, El Globo, Química Fluor and Porcelanite, among others. The Group’s companies directly employ more than 218,000 people.

Carso’s growth has been possible due to the ongoing reinvestment of profits in its companies for the continued production of goods and services, which at the same time generates jobs for Mexicans. Grupo Carso focuses its growth and investments on the most dynamic sectors in the medium and long term, maintaining its flexibility and rapid decision-making.

Grupo Carso, S.A. de C.V. is a Mexican holding company that has proven its capacity to manage companies operating in highly competitive markets, both domestically and internationally.

T e l m e x

In 1990, Grupo Carso and other Mexican investors acquired 10.4% of the company’s stock, in partnership with SBC – 5% with an option for an additional 5% – and France Telecom 5%. Since 1990, Telmex has embraced a work culture where training, modernization, quality and customer service is a priority

In 1991 Telmex was using electromechanical, analog and other obsolete equipment and technology in its operations, transportation, physical plant and maintenance, and had manual records and a 360-kilometer fiber optic network. Telmex has modernized and today has more than 103,000 kilometers of fiber optic installed throughout the country.

Telmex operates with the firm conviction to access the entire population to telecommunications, even though not having profit margins or subsidies; the Enterprise has the largest network of the country in this sector.

Public telephony has been a very important part in facilitating access for the population at large, with the number of public telephones rising from 69,025 in December 1990, to 726,693 in September of 2009.

Since its privatization, Telmex  aims to anticipate and meet all the telecommunication needs of its customers, offering the most advanced products and services with the highest quality  standards and at the best prices. Telmex is the leader company in telecommunications in Mexico.

Telmex is a corporation constituted by Telefonos de Mexico, S.A.B.C.V, its subsidiary enterprises and partners that provide telecommunications services in Mexico. Its services coverage includes, among other things, the operation of the most extensive network of local and long distance services. It also provides services such as connectivity, internet access, collocations, lodging and interconnection services with other telecommunication operators.

The advantage of Telmex  is that it is only telecommunications company in Mexico that has invested to meet the needs of communication of all the socioeconomic segments, paying special attention to rural telephony and internet connection in villages of difficult access throughout the  country.

In the fixed line business in Mexico, Telmex competes with operators primarily focused on the high-income A and B segments. In those competitive segments, Telmex has an approximate 66% market share, and 49% in the A segment alone. However, Telmex’s commitment to provide they telecommunications services has led to its being the country’s only fixed telephony operator with presence in the C-, D, E and prepaid socioeconomic segments, with 100% share of the market.

Since its privatization, Telmex has invested more than 30,000 million dollars only in Mexico, since its total investments between 1999 and 2007 in the telecommunications sector were about 45,818 million dollars; in other words, Telmex investments represented more than 65%.

Lastly, Telmex had provided the 82% of the investments in fixed telephony in the whole Mexico area.