According to next year’s Income project, the telecommunications regulator will generate 17,717 million pesos, 7.3% more than the 16,497 million pesos for the radio spectrum right paid by connectivity companies.
The collection contemplated by the government for the spectrum item is almost twice the budget proposed for the Care program for people with disabilities, being 8,930 million pesos; It is also almost comparable with the plan for the Articulation of comprehensive youth policies, projecting an expenditure of 15,410 million pesos.
According to experts, the appearance of the IFT in the fiscal miscellany is not wrong. The Institute will still operate for a few months, despite its extinction, because it is contemplated sending its powers to decentralized entities, and as long as its powers are established, it will remain as a State collector.
“There is an order to eliminate (the IFT) but as soon as the secondary laws are published there will be a period of six months for it to be formally extinguished. While this process materializes, the Institute will continue to be a regulatory and spectrum authority,” explained Salomón Padilla, vice president of the Association of Independent Telecommunications (ATIM) and expert in the connectivity sector.
The reform that eliminated the self-employed, carried out by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic, indicates that the functions of the Institute will be sent to two agencies: those related to economic competition to a decentralized entity in the Ministry of Economy, while those for regulation and the bidding for radio spectrum will pass to the Digital Agency for Digital Transformation.
“The way it was legislated has left a lot of confusion and there is no certainty as to who will have the power of the spectrum, but what is certain is that as long as the IFT remains alive, the Transformation Agency will not be able to exercise the attribution of the spectrum. spectrum,” added Salomón Padilla.
The radio spectrum is the most important input for telecommunications operators. Through spectrum bands it is possible to expand connectivity networks and give way to new technologies such as 5G. But the extinction of the IFT and the sending of its powers to new agencies will decrease the appetite of operators to acquire spectrum, since uncertainty has been generated within the industry, by not having clarity about the development of new tenders and even the future of which the Institute was preparing, the IFT-12 for suitable spectrum for 5G, which directly impacts the government’s collection plans.
Alberto Farca, vice president of projects at Centro México Digital, commented that, in addition to the uncertainty due to the disappearance of the regulator, the issue of the cost of spectrum is the main reason for discouraging private telecommunications companies from purchasing bands.
The Sheinbaum Pardo government has decided not to reduce the price of the radio spectrum for next year and, instead, has chosen to keep the costs of this input high, compared to the world average, in accordance with the Federal Law of Rights (LFD). ) by 2025.
The government proposal implies that the bands that are suitable for 5G and even to increase 4G coverage maintain the rates of the last three years without an inflationary update. For example, only the annual payment for the rights to use the 600 MHz band will remain at 26,997 million pesos, while for the 800 MHz band it will cost 54,087 million pesos, according to the quotas of the Federal Law. of Rights 2023.
“The amount of the rights defined by the Ministry of Finance and approved by the deputies will be decisive for the operators, added to consider will be the bands and the amount of spectrum to be tendered and the bases of the bidding, as well as whether updates will be made to the National Radio Spectrum Program,” said Farca.
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