INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS; Mexico to Cancel Long-Distance Surcharge
Published: December 02, 1998  Mexican regulators announced today
that they would cancel a surcharge that Telefonos de Mexico S.A.
collected from other long-distance companies to complete calls
into Mexico.  The surcharge had drawn accusations of unfair
competition from United States companies.  However, Mexico
stopped short of addressing several issues that have caused
long-distance companies like AT&T and MCI Worldcom to slow the
once-vigorous pace of their investments in Mexico.  Javier
Lozano Alarcon, president of the Federal Telecommunications
Commission here, said that the 58 percent surcharge would be
eliminated as of Jan. 1. Long-distance companies that compete
with Telefonos de Mexico, known as Telmex, will pay the
equivalent of 2.6 cents a minute for calls from the United
States into Mexico, about the same rate they were paying before
the surcharge.  MCI Worldcom had protested the surcharge
especially vigorously, and earlier this year