Latin America operator giant America Movil reported a 14 percent rise in second-quarter profit yesterday, shrugging off recent regulatory pressures in its home market of Mexico. Bloomberg reports that the operator’s net income rose to MXN24.2 billion (US$2.07 billion), up from MXN21.2 billion a year ago. Sales rose 7.8 percent to MXN160 billion, ahead of analysts’ forecasts of MXN158.3 billion. The mobile subscriber base reached 236 million, representing net additions of 5.1 million over the previous quarter. Brazil accounted for 2.1 billion net additions, while 1.3 million were added in Mexico. America Movil is active in 18 countries across the region. 

The solid set of results will reassure investors worried about regulators’ efforts to curb America Movil’s dominance in Mexico, where its local mobile arm – Telcel – controls about 70 percent of the market. Cofetel, the local regulator, has demanded that Telcel halve the rate it charges competitors to terminate calls on its network. “The new effective interconnection rate is one of the lowest in the world,” claimed America Movil in a statement. The local unit has also been slapped with a US$1 billion fine for alleged monopolistic practices by the Mexican anti-trust regulator, Cofeco. America Movil is appealing the fine and yesterday said that the “issue will be resolved definitely by Cofeco on or before 30 September.”