El Salvador’s competition authority threw out an application by America Movil to purchase Telefonica’s business in the country, for not providing all the required information.

The decision by the Superintendencia de Competencia is the second time the application had been rejected due to administration issues.

In a statement, the authority said it had warned America Movil in late July it needed to submit “certain information necessary to know the background of the operation proposed”, but did not receive the additional submission before its August deadline.

It added on 2 September Telefonica and America Movil waived their rights to appeal the authority’s decision. America Movil is free to submit a new application once it has collated the additional information.

The transaction, announced in January, is yet to be properly assessed by the regulator, which has so-far only conducted a preliminary assessment on whether all of the required information has been provided.

During a second stage, the authority will assess the impact of the transaction on competition and consumer welfare.

In April, it sent the first application back to America Movil for not completing the necessary documentation.