Maxcom picked a fight with Telmex, the company that had long dominated Mexican telecom. It sold local phone service, internet and later pay television to homes and small businesses in Mexico City, Puebla and other cities. It built its own lines and fiber to do it. Maxcom listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in 2007. Emerging markets were in favor, and investors were hunting for growth in Latin America.

When Mexico Opened the Lines

Maxcom was founded in 1996, after Mexico opened local telephone service to competition. The bet was that a nimble new carrier could win customers from a slow incumbent. It would build modern networks in selected cities and bundle its services. Maxcom invested heavily in its own lines and fiber. Like many challengers, it faced the hard economics of building physical networks street by street.

Debt, Then Delisting

Maxcom priced its New York listing at $17.50 per American depositary share in October 2007. The financial crisis and fierce competition hurt the business. The company went through debt troubles and a restructuring. In 2014 it delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and its board cited low trading volume in the United States. Its shares kept trading in Mexico, and over the counter in the United States.

Cover: A Mexican Vaquero, Frederic Remington. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a Mexican rider (Mexico).