Uber inks deal for its app to be on all phones that use America Movil in Mexico

Mexico City: Uber Inc has signed a deal with billionaire Carlos Slim’s America Movil to bring its app, which allows users to summon a car on their smartphones, to new customers in Latin America in a move it says could be a model for other regions.

Starting on Tuesday, the Uber app will be promoted on millions of Android phones that use telecoms company America Movil (AMXL.MX) as their carrier, including 10 million in Mexico, Uber said.

[caption id=“attachment_111482” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Carlos Slim. Reuters[/caption]

Customers will get a 150 peso ($10.64) discount on their first ride, and Uber drivers in Mexico will get discounts on packages with Telcel, America Movil’s wireless firm in the country.

More from Corporate

Maha: Court orders Rs 30L compensation for parents after youth dies in road accident Ashleigh Barty comes from set down to beat Coco Gauff in Australian Open lead-up

Uber signed a similar deal earlier this year with U.S. carrier AT&T (T.N). Uber said on Tuesday that it is working to expand the deal with America Movil to other sectors, and that the partnership could serve as a model in other regions.

America Movil, controlled by the family of Carlos Slim, the world’s second richest man according to Forbes, has around 241 million wireless subscribers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The company does not break down which subscribers use smartphones.

Around 42.9 percent of mobiles in Mexico, where Uber started its Latin America operation last year, were smartphones in mid-2014, the Competitive Intelligence Unit said in October.

Uber Latin America spokeswoman Ana Paula Blanco said the company did not pay America Movil for the deal, but that it was the beginning of a “relationship” between the two companies.

America Movil did not immediately return a request for comment.

Reuters