Infrastructure
Macquarie plans to bid on road, bridge tender
Sentido Comun - Macquarie Infrastructure Fund Mexico, recently established by the Australian investment bank, announced it is participating as a member of a consortium that seeks to win the tender to build and operate several roads and bridges in the northeast.
Only 37.4 million have registered cell phones
Sentido Comun - Cell phone users have registered more than 37.4 million phone numbers on the National Register of Mobile Phone Members before the April 10 deadline. Mexico has about 80 million mobile phone users.
Kansas City Southern buys rail-truck facility
Kansas City Star - Kansas City Southern has bought the Puerta Mexico rail-truck facility in Toluca in the state of Mexico. Later this month, the railway plans to add direct train service from Puerta Mexico to Lazaro Cardenass, a port on Mexico’s west coast.
www.kansascity.com/2010/03/08/1798817/noteworthy-kc-southern-center.html
Telefonica eyes group to bid of fiber optics
Reuters - Spain's Telefonica might team up with small telephone and cable operators in Mexico to bid on a fiber optic network meant to challenge tycoon Carlos Slim's empire, Francisco Gil, head of Telefonica in Mexico, told reporters on Monday.
Slim expected to win highway projects
Bloomberg - Billionaire Carlos Slim’s construction company is poised to win the biggest of three toll-road contracts in Mexico, beating Empresas ICA SAB, the nation’s largest builder, Credit Suisse Group AG said.
Queretaro Intermodal Terminal is expanding
Maquila Portal - Servicios Integrales y Desarrollo GMG, the company that operates Queretaro Intermodal Terminal, will invest between $50 million and $100 million in 2010 to expand the terminal, including adding a terminal for frozen products.
ICA reports fourth quarter loss on new taxes
Dow Jones - Mexico's leading construction firm, Empresas ICA, reported Monday a fourth-quarter net loss of 574 million pesos ($45 million) as the effects of new tax rules offset higher revenue. ICA, which has won numerous building contracts in recent years as the government has pushed to modernize Mexico's infrastructure, said its revenue rose 13 percent year-on-year.
Satellite offerings set of war for market share
El Semanario - The distribution of satellite television signals are only the beginning of a war for market seeking cover satellite operators and telephone providers in partnership with Mexican carriers, which seek to also offer voice and data information.
Wireless subscribers increase 6.7 percent in 2009
Dow Jones - Mexico's wireless industry defied last year's deep recession to expand its combined wireless subscriber base 6.7 percent to 83.2 million at the end of December, according to data from the country's four mobile operators. The industry added 1.8 million new subscribers during the fourth quarter.
SCT predicts 450,000 new jobs in 2010
El Semanario - Some 450,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created during 2010 related to infrastructure projects that will attract investment of 33.95 billion pesos ($2.65 billion), said Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT) undersecretary Oscar de Buen.
