Claro and Movistar fined $1.55 billion by Colombia tribunal

A Colombian tribunal on Tuesday ruled telephone companies Claro and Movistar must pay the government $1.55 billion for failing to meet contractual conditions for cellular services, a government official said.

An arbitration court said the two companies failed to return installed networks and infrastructure as part of agreements to provide cellular phone service more than a decade ago, Luis Guillermo Velez, director of the government's legal defense agency, told reporters.

Claro, a unit of Mexico's America Movil must pay $1.02 billion, and Movistar, part of Spain's Telefonica, has been fined $529.1 million, Velez said.

Source: Reuters