Comisión Reguladora de Telecomunicaciones

The IFT Plenary establishes the technical committees for the Local Network Electronic Systems for Management and Unbundling

• IFT issues operational rules for these committees and appoints the Commissioners who will govern them
• IFT approves the Call for the registration of representatives of concessionaires and virtual mobile operators interested in participating in these Technical Committees
• IFT resolves to grant extensions to 34 concession titles to install, operate and exploit a public telecommunications network with coverage in various locations in the country
• IFT approves sanctions and declares the loss of equipment in benefit of the Nation of three broadcasting stations in different bands of the radio spectrum that do not have the concession or required permission.

As reported, the measures imposed on the preponderant economic agent in the telecommunications sector, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) imposed obligations in terms of effective unbundling of the local network and determined that it must implement electronic management systems, through which the Institute, applicants for concessions and virtual mobile operators can consult remotely, at any time, updated information of the public telecommunications network and perform operations associated with the wholesale fixed and mobile telecommunication services.

In light of this, during the ordinary session held today, IFT Plenary established the creation of the Technical Committee for the effective unbundling of the local network, and two Technical Committees for the definition of Electronic Management Systems; one for mobile telecommunications services, and the other for fixed services. This meets the obligation to establish such committees within a period not exceeding 90 calendar days from the notification of the measures imposed to the preponderant economic agent.

These committees will define various technical aspects regarding the effective unbundling of the local network, such as the implementation schedule, parameters of quality and technical standards that allow the adequate provision of services, not to mention the formats, interfaces, security and encryption mechanisms, database management and all matters related to Electronic Management Systems.

The agreements shall be adopted by unanimity and be formalized by the Institute; if not so, the regulatory body will resolve definitively.

The Plenary issued the Operational Rules for the Technical Committees and appointed the following IFT officers to conform them:

For all committees, the Unit Regulatory Policy holder will be the Deputy Chairman, and the General Director of Economic Regulation will be the Secretary.

The Technical Committees will also be formed by industry representatives, for which the Plenary approved the Call for the registration of public network representatives of the concessionaires of telecommunications and mobile virtual operators interested in participating in such groups, which will be published on the Institute website.

On another note, the IFT approved sanctions and declared the loss of equipment in benefit of the Nation of three broadcasting stations in different bands of the radio spectrum that did not have the concession or required permission.

Two of the stations operated in the AM band frequencies with 710 kHz, 1070 kHz in the city of San Luis Potosí, state of San Luis Potosí. In both cases, the frequencies were related to changes from the AM to FM band and had concluded the right to use the amplitude modulation. A third case refers to the station which operated with the 90.1 MHz frequency on the FM band in Atizapán de Zaragoza, State of Mexico. The resolutions of these issues put an end to the procedures derived from the assurance of goods intended for the operation of the broadcasting stations mentioned above.

On another note, the IFT Plenary decided to grant extensions to 34 concession titles to install operate and exploit a public telecommunications network with coverage in different areas of the country, for a period of 10 years.

The cases are listed below:

With the granting of these extensions, the continuity of the operations and delivery of services in the towns involved is guaranteed, provides legal certainty to the concessionaires which will allow them to plan their investments, and also advances in the relief of administrative records.

The IFT Plenary decides to modify the operating specifications of number portability to facilitate this process for users

• The text message whereby the confirmation PIN is submitted to the number to be ported will change, in order to offer greater certainty and clarity in the communication with the subscriber
• A numeral is added regarding the obligatory accountability of concessionaires to deliver the invoice of the services contracted at least 10 in advance to the payment deadline
• It approves the granting of 7 new concession certificates and 21 extensions of concession certificates to install, operate and exploit a public telecommunications network to individuals and corporations in different cities of the country

The Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) Plenary decided to modify the operating specifications to implement number portability, in order to this process to be more expedite and transparent for users.

Number portability is the right of subscribers to keep their telephone number, notwithstanding the concessionaire of public telecommunications network they may choose.

The modifications approved by the Plenary derive from the agreements unanimously reached in the Technical Portability Committee, the forum presided and coordinated by the IFT, and in which providers of telecommunication services participate, for whom the number has been assigned.

One of the essential requirements to carry out the number portability process in the case of subscribers of prepaid mobile telephone services is that the user requesting the change may have a Personal Identification Number (PIN) of confirmation. This number is generated by the Database Administrator (Administrador de la Base de Datos, DA or ABD) and sent through a text message to the number to be ported, by the telephone company request to the telephone company the user wants to change to.

With the change approved today by the Plenary, the text message must state: “The change of your mobile telephone company has commenced. Deliver the code to the new company only if you wish to make the change. Your portability PIN is XXXX” (Está iniciando su cambio de empresa de telefonía móvil, entregue la clave de la nueva empresa solo si desea cambiarse, su NIP de portabilidad es XXXX).

Thus, greater clarity, certainty and transparency will be offered in the message sent to the subscriber of local and mobile services in the prepaid scheme, and the risk of deceiving practices is diminished.

Likewise, the IFT Plenary decided to add number 2.3 ter of the operating specifications, regarding the mandatory nature for telecommunication services providers to provide, through any mean agreed by the parties, the pertinent invoice to the subscriber numbers, with the amount chargeable to such subscriber at least 10 calendar days in advance to the payment deadline of the telecommunications services contracted.

This measure is destined to offer users the elements to make easier the process for their telephone number portability whenever they decide so, and to reduce the obstacles that could exist to conduct the pertinent process.

Conversely, the Plenary decided to grant 7 certificate concessions to install, operate and exploit a public telecommunications network to an equal number of individuals or corporations in different locations of the country, listed herein below:

Likewise, it decided to grant 21 extensions of concession certificates to install, operate and exploit a public telecommunications network to an equal number of individuals or corporations in different locations of the country, listed herein below:

Finally, the IFT agreed to issue a permit certificate to install and operate Channel 49 of digital television in favor of the Government of the State of Morelos.

The Federal Telecommunications Institute Plenary decides to amend the policy of transition to Digital Terrestrial Television, DTT

(TELEVISIÓN DIGITAL TERRESTRE, TDT)

• Decides to adjust the date to conclude the analogue broadcasting of free-to-air television in the cities of Monterrey, Reynosa, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juárez from May 29th of 2014 to November 26th of the current year.
• The resolution is based on the survey results carried out in such cities, which evidence that, currently, the TDT (Televisión Digital Terrestre) has no more than 90% of penetration in the services of broadcasted TV.
• At the same meeting, it was decided to impose fines and declare the forfeiture of the assets involved of two FM radio stations that operated without any permit or concession in the benefit of the nation

On July 31st of 2013, an amendatory ruling of the Policy of Transition to Digital Terrestrial Television DTT (Televisión Digital Terrestre, TDT) was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación, DOF) which fixes May 29th of 2014 as the date when broadcasted analogue transmissions will conclude in the cities of Monterrey, Nuevo León; Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa an d Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. Mentioned cities were considered as part of the pilot tests of the DTT Policy during the year of 2014.

According to the provisions of the DTT Policy, if one month before the month when the analogue switch-off must be conducted in a certain locality, the level of penetration of 90% of TDT has not been achieved, the date must be adjusted to carry out the conclusion of analogue transmissions in that city.

To this effect, and in order to have reliable information on the DTT adoption in five cities in the northern region of the country where the analogue switch-off was fixed for May 29th of 2014, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT), through the Radio and Television Systems Office (Unidad de Sistemas de Radio y Televisión, USRTV), hired a company services to obtain information on the type of television received in such localities, in order to be aware about the DTT penetration levels.

On April 28^th, in an extraordinary session, the USRTV submitted a report to the IFT Plenary on the status of DTT penetration in the cities of Monterrey, Ciudad Juárez, Reynosa, Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo, with the following results:

• 8,786 surveys were conducted in these 5 cities
• The homes that have a television set, between 54 and 77 p e r c e n t depend on free-to-air television
• There is no equal penetration of DTT in these 5 cities or higher than 90% in homes that depend on free-to-air-television

Thus, since the condition of not having DTT penetration is equal or higher than 90% in the cities foreseen to carry out the analogue switch-off, the IFT Plenary decided to amend the Ruling whereby the Digital Terrestrial Television technological standard is adopted and the Policy for the Transition to Digital Terrestrial Television in Mexico established, published on June 2nd of 2004, amended, in turn, on May 4th of 2012, April 4th, June 1st and July 31st of 2013.

With this amendment, the date to conclude the analogue transmissions of broadcasted television in the cited five cities of the northern region of the country is adjusted; according to the general calendar set forth for 2014 in the DTT Policy is November 26th of 2014. The foregoing, without prejudice that the Institute may be able to review the dates set forth in the DTT Policy, once the work schedule mentioned by the Seventeenth Transitory Article, subsection IV, of the Decree of Constitutional Reform in telecommunications matters has been informed, considering the performance of pilot tests according to the best international practices.

Conversely, in the session held yesterday, the IFT Plenary was decided to impose several fines and declare the forfeiture in benefit of the nation, of the assets destined to operate two FM radio stations that broadcasted in the cities of Reynosa, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas, Zacatecas that did not have any permit or concession.

As part of the supervision actions conducted by the Institute to survey the radio spectrum, the pertinent proceedings and administrative procedures were conducted, outcome of which was the verification of the absence of concession certificates or permits that would evidence the legal operation of these stations. The IFT conducted the seizure of the assets destined to the operation of radio stations mentioned above, in order to prevent them from continuing their transmissions.

Thus, the IFT Plenary established, based on Articles 101, subsection XXIII, 103, 104 bis and 106 of the Federal Radio and Television Law, to impose penalties and declare the forfeiture of the assets destined to the operation of stations in the following frequencies and localities to the benefit of the Nation:

According to its responsibilities, the IFT will continue to conduct actions of surveillance so that broadcasting in Mexico is provided according to the terms set forth in the Law.

SCT hands over files to the IFT in their new regulating capacity of the telecommunications sector

• It made formal delivery of 2,123 issues in process in the matter of telecommunications that were managed before by the Ministry

Today the General Directorate of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Policy of the Ministry of Communications and Transport (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, SCT) made the formal handover, in order, by catalogue and in a transparent manner to the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) of 2,123 issues in process related to requests of granting of new concessions, permissions and allocations of the spectrum of official use, prorogations, revocations, modifications, corporate changes and sanction procedures, among others. It also handed over more than 1,100 files with finalized issues. The culmination of this process is the result of the work carried out by the work parties assigned by both institutions during the three previous weeks, which were in charge to review, classify and organize the documentation that the IFT received today. These files were previously managed by the SCT; nevertheless, as a result of the recent creation of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), this body is in charge of regulating and is the authority in the matter of economic competition of the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, pursuant to the “Decree by which diverse dispositions of articles 6. 7, 27, 28, 73, 78, 94 and 105 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States are reformed and added”, published in the Federal Official Gazette on June 11th, 2013. As a constitutional autonomous independent body, the IFT must regulate, promote and supervise the use, leveraging and operation of the radio electric and network spectrum and providing of broadcasting and telecommunications services, 2 in addition to which it has the faculty to grant, revoke and sanction concessions in broadcasting and telecommunications matters. It is important to mention that in the act of reception, various civil employees of both institutions were present, as well as the representative of the Internal Organ of Control of the SCT.