Reuters reports that Mexican fixed line incumbent Telmex is refusing to give Telefonica access to its local loop on the grounds that the Spanish company’s local operating arm, Grupo de Telecomunicaciones Mexicanas, is more than 49% owned by Telefonica. In a statement, Telmex noted that by law foreign investors may not own more than 49% of the capital of Mexican companies yet Telefonica’s subsidiary ‘has an indirect, foreign investment of 97.7%’. Telmex said it has petitioned the Mexican telecoms watchdog CFT to determine if it must ‘provide local loop access to a company that is violating the law.’ The statement follows a complaint by Telefonica regarding its request for the access 18 months ago.