Ricardo Monreal, coordinator of Morena in the Chamber of Deputies, assured that two decentralized entities will be created to attend to the technical functions of the IFT and the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece), this as part of the change in the draft opinion to extinguish to the self-employed so as not to clash with article 18, section 17 of the TMEC, which requires an independent telecommunications regulator so that “a provider of public telecommunications services is not accountable” and ensures independent resolutions and with impartiality.
“The creation of two institutions, a reservation presented by Deputy Ramírez Cuellar, is important because it maintains the technical operation independently, and now all the functions of the IFT and Cofece bodies are going to be reassigned to the Secretariats of State or the administration public where they correspond from our point of view,” said Monreal during his participation in the Chamber of Deputies to eliminate the self-employed.
The decentralized bodies that Morena has proposed will have an independent character, legal personality and their own assets, added to two areas of investigation and procedure, something that the IFT and Cofece itself have until now. However, it is still not clear what powers of the telecommunications regulator would remain in each entity.
Monreal has maintained that various powers of the IFT will be within the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency, while the president has said that they will be located in the decentralized part of the Ministry of Economy.
Specialists consulted by this medium said that it is possible that the regulatory powers in matters of telecommunications and broadcasting, such as asymmetric measures, will pass to the decentralized Secretariat of José Merino, while those of economic competition will be transferred to the decentralized body of Economy. where the powers of Cofece will also be, whose idea is based on the draft opinion, with changes to several reservations, that Monreal presented to the Chamber of Deputies.
For experts, the creation of decentralized entities can be considered a ‘slight victory’, since the new entities would maintain independent management from the Secretariats or agencies to which they are attached and thereby preserve the technical part of the regulators.
“But the key for the decentralized ones to be independent lies in the appointment of their heads and staff, and this is where we will have to wait to see how this assignment is being planned,” commented a specialist in economic competition.
Adolfo Cuevas, former president commissioner of the IFT, previously commented to Expansión about the need to preserve part of the technical staff that currently operates in the telecommunications regulator to ensure that decisions will be made based on technical specialization and to provide continuity to the regulation that currently governs the connectivity sector.
“The autonomy and independence of decisions of the regulator has been essential to attract investment and increase competition”; Cuevas expressed.
Until now, the draft opinion only states that the figures of commissioners will be eliminated and will cease to have effect as soon as the decree of the new decentralized entities is published, without offering details of the destination of the IFT staff.
Independence, the key to the new entities
The independence of the new decentralized entities will be essential to generate certainty within the telecommunications industry in order to promote investments for 5G, densify other networks and reduce the prices of connectivity services.
The IFT, by functioning as an independent regulator in telecommunications and broadcasting, managed to get AT&T to enter the market, bringing with it greater competition and service options for users. Added to that the regulator managed to reduce the price of internet and telephone services by up to 31.5%. For example, in 2018 the fixed internet rent of 50 Megas ranged at 742 pesos and this year, at 349 pesos, which implies a decrease of 52.9%.
But if the political stance of technology prevails in decentralized organizations, there would be a risk of favoring companies or interest groups, reducing the appetite for investment and competition of other operators, according to specialists.
This would result in lower investment in telecommunications networks, resulting in impacts on connectivity services for consumers, added to increases in internet and telephone prices. Furthermore, users would be subject to contract policies without effective regulation, and even see their number portability hindered.
If decentralized entities are not structured technically in secondary laws, experts have warned of the risk of slowing down the progress made in the telecommunications sector since the 2013 reform and generating chaos in an industry already struggling to implement 5G. achieve a balance in the telephone and pay TV markets, and even see the withdrawal of companies from the country.
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