The SCT and the IFT sign agreements for a “Shared Network” in the 700 MHZ band (Press Release 48/2014)
The SCT and the IFT sign agreements for a “Shared Network” in the 700 MHZ band
- The Shared Network will start operations by the end of 2018 and, together with the Backbone Network, will offer better conditions of quality, price and coverage in telecommunication services for all mexicans.
- The IFT and the SCT signed framework and specific agreements formalizing their cooperation and establish the terms and activities for the development of the Backbone Network and the Shared Network.
- The agreements set forth the project schedules, which in the case of the Shared Network include a call for bids of a Public-Private Association responsible for deploying, operating and market wholesale services.
The Government of Mexico, through the Ministry of Communications and Transport (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, SCT) and the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) signed framework and specific agreements to fulfill the Constitutional Mandate that the Shared Network starts operations no later than by 2018.
The Minister of the SCT, Gerardo Ruiz Esparza and the President Commissioner of the IFT, Gabriel Contreras Saldívar, signed the Framework Agreement of Inter-institutional Cooperation and the Specific Agreements for the projects: “Backbone Network” and “Shared Network” establishing the bases for the coordination between both institutions, as well as the applicable schedules for these two important projects.
Ruiz Esparza said that signing these agreements represents the first step of many others that will be undertaken by this agency to make a reality the access to information and communication technologies for the Mexican population. “If an immediate and significant benefit can have the Mexican society, is precisely this connectivity.”
With this, the Federal Executive and the IFT will achieve that the Shared Network commences operations by 2018, offering better services and a wider coverage in telecommunications to the Mexican population, with higher standards than the average of the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Regarding the Backbone Network, the Minister of Communications and Transports said the aim is to strengthen and expand the network of fiber optic Federal Electricity Commission to make it a highly available network that can meet the needs of the shared network services and other mobile operators.
On the Backbone Network project, the Minister emphasized that the Federal Executive will follow the regulations established by the IFT, under the guidelines that this autonomous agency may issue according to the provisions of the Constitutional Reform on Telecommunications.
He also explained that the Shared Network will be destined exclusively to market wholesale telecommunications capacity and services through concessionaires or trade companies. This project will foster the right of access to information and communication technologies, and particularly to telecommunications, including access to broadband Internet. To this end, the State will establish and promote effective competition conditions to provide such services.
The President Commissioner of the IFT pointed out that given a growing demand for connectivity which requires substantial investments in infrastructure and the use of such a scarce resource as the radio spectrum, the Constitution ordered the installation of a wholesale public shared network as a tool that will promote competition and access to broadband services.
The President Commissioner added that, as set forth in the Constitution, the coordination of all parties involved is necessary within their respective scopes to guarantee compliance with the constitutional mandates, and that therefore, the agreements signed today formalize such coordination by establishing activities and dates for compliance.
In his speech, the Undersecretary of Communications, José Ignacio Peralta, emphasized the relevance of this IFT Project and pointed out that the first result of this coordinated effort was the definition of “Model and Use” of the 700 MHz Band, a basis to appraise the spectrum, and a proposal included in the 2015 economic package sent by the Federal Executive to House of Representatives for its discussion and approval.
José Ignacio Peralta added that “with the launch of the Shared Network Project, the field tests in which six of the main telecommunication equipment manufacturers will take part in the same number of sites with different characteristics, we will have a real performance environment of the Network in different scenarios and under diverse requirements.” The Assistant Minister of Communications explained that these field tests will put the technology to the test under actual conditions, in terms of the methodology selected by the Ministry and the IFT.
The Shared Network of wholesale mobile services represents an investment of approximately $10 billion U.S. Dollars over the next 10 years to be developed by a Public-Private Association. It will promote competition in the telecommunications area, widen coverage, increase penetration of services, and it will be in operation by 2018.
This event was also attended by the Commissioners of the IFT: María Elena Estavillo Flores, Adriana Sofía Labardini Inzunza, Mario Germán Fromow Rangel, Ernesto Estrada González and Luis Fernando Borjón Figueroa, as well as by Ricardo Márquez Blas, Head of the Public Security Information Unit of the National Security Commission, the Coordinator of the Information and Knowledge Society, Mónica Aspe Bernal, and officials of the Federal Electricity Commission.
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The Plenary of IFT approves to submit to public consultation the number portability Regulations Draft Project (Press Release 47/2014)
The Plenary of IFT approves to submit to public consultation the number portability Regulations Draft Project
- The Plenary of IFT seeks to eliminate requirements that could delay or impede users to exert their right to keep their telephone number when they subscribe to another network carrier
- The Plenary has solved on four interconnection disagreements among telecommunications public networks concession holders
The Plenary of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) in its XIV regular meeting approved a public consultation to the Draft Agreement by which the Number Portability Regulations are issued and the Fundamental Numbering Technical Plan and the Fundamental Signaling Technical Plan are modified, first published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on June 21st of 1996.
This public consultation makes enhances transparency and promotes the participation of the public in the processes to issue general provisions by the IFT; furthermore, the comments made in this consultation will reinforce the decision-making process of the IFT, which will include the comments and opinions of academics, members of the industry, experts, and the society at large on the document submitted to consultation, so that the resulting Draft Project is duly examined by the Plenary of the IFT for its eventual approval and subsequent publication.
With the issuing of the Portability Regulations the IFT will fully comply with the provisions of the
Transitory Thirty-Eighth Article of the issuing Decree of the Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law, which sets forth that the obligation of this regulatory body is to issue, within the sixty business days following the effective date of such Law the necessary administrative rules to eliminate requirements which may delay or impede number portability.
Thus, the Regulations Draft Project which will be available to all interested parties for consultation on the website of the IFT for a period of 10 (ten) business days from its publication, establishes rules to ensure an effective portability within a period not exceeding 24 hours and promotes the formalities for the portability of phone numbers so this process can be made via electronic means, so that users freely and effectively exercise their right to choose the service provider of choice, keeping their phone number.
To have an appropriate implementation of number portability under the terms of the Regulations Draft Project, it is also necessary to modify the Fundamental Numbering Technical Plan and the Fundamental Signaling Technical Plan to incorporate the technical parameters required to have a successful implementation of the new applicable regulations.
The Plenary of the IFT also solved four interconnection disagreements among telecommunications public networks concession holders:
1) The interconnection fee that Megacable Comunicaciones de México, S.A. de C.V. shall pay to Radiomóvil Dipsa, S.A. de C.V. for switched termination services in mobile users under the arrangements “Calling Party Pays” will be $0.3214 pesos per minute, effective as from December 31st of 2012.
2) The interconnection fee that Cablevisión, S.A. de C.V., Bestphone S.A. de C.V. and Cablemás Telecomunicaciones, S.A. de C.V. shall pay to Radiomóvil Dipsa, S.A. de C.V. for switched termination services in mobile users under the arrangements “Calling Party Pays”, as well as the fee that Operbes, S.A. de C.V. and Cablemás shall pay to Radiomóvil Dipsa for the same item under the arrangements “Calling Party Pays in Mexico” will be $0.3214 pesos per minute, from January 1st to December 31st of 2012.
Moreover, the fee that Radiomóvil Dipsa shall pay to Cablevisión, Bestphone and Cablemás for termination services in fixed telephone users will be $0.02432 pesos per minute, effective from January 1st to December 31st of 2012.
3) The interconnection fees that Avantel, S. de R.L. de C.V. and Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V. shall pay to Iusacell PCS, S.A. de C.V., Comunicaciones Celulares de Occidente, S.A. de C.V., Sistemas Telefónicos Portátiles Celulares, S.A. de C.V., SOS Telecomunicaciones, S.A. de C.V., Telecomunicaciones del Golfo, S.A. de C.V., Portatel del Sureste, S.A. de C.V. and Operadora Unefon S.A. de C.V., for switched termination services in mobile users under the arrangements “Calling Party Pays” and “Calling Party Pays in Mexico” will be the following:
- From January 1st to December 31st of 2012: $0.3214 pesos per minute
- From January 1st to December 31st of 2013: $0.3144 pesos per minute
4) The interconnection fee that Alestra S. de R.L. de C.V. shall pay to Comunicaciones Celulares de
Occidente, S.A. de C.V., Sistemas Telefónicos Portátiles Celulares, S.A. de C.V.,
Telecomunicaciones del Golfo, S.A. de C.V., Iusacell PCS, S.A. de C.V., Iusacell PCS de México, S.A de C.V. SOS Telecomunicaciones, S.A. de C.V., Portatel del Sureste, S.A. de C.V. and Operadora Unefon S.A. de C.V., for switched termination services in mobile users under the arrangements “Calling Party Pays” and “Calling Party Pays in Mexico” will be $0.3214 pesos per minute, from January 1st to December 31st of 2012.
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INEGI and the IFT agree to join efforts to foster telecommunications and broadcasting in Mexico (Press Release 46/2014)
INEGI and the IFT agree to join efforts to foster telecommunications and broadcasting in Mexico
The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, INEGI) and the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) signed today a Cooperation Agreement by which the bases to carry out jointly technical Works to generate statistical data and indicators on telecommunications and broadcasting, were established.
This Agreement will make possible to implement some provisions of the Federal Telecommunications Law, in the sense that both institutions shall act in a coordinated way, in order to create and update indicators in such areas according to the measurement methodology certified or recommended by the International Telecommunications Union.
Thus, INEGI and the IFT will work jointly to develop studies and research, exchange statistical and geographical information, and carry out surveys and polls in several cities, among other activities.
The ceremony of signature of this Cooperation Agreement was presided by Eduardo Sojo Garza Aldape, Chairman of the Governing Board of INEGI, and by Gabriel Oswaldo Contreras Saldívar, President Commissioner of the IFT.
Eduardo Sojo stated that INEGI is willing to participate in the development of actions of gathering, processing, analysis, dissemination, studies and research, as well as the exchange of statistical and geographical information in a coordinated manner to meet the needs and requirements of data in telecommunications and broadcasting.
Gabriel Contreras added that the joint efforts between both institutions takes place at the right time to meet the provisions of the new secondary laws, so that in exercise of their powers under the IFT as a regulatory body telecommunications and broadcasting, collaboration with INEGI will enhance the rigor of statistical data which seeks to bring down the asymmetry of information in these sectors.
Worth mentioning is that the IFT is the highest authority in Mexico in regulation, promotion and supervision of the use, development and exploitation of the spectrum, networks and the provision of broadcasting services and telecommunications.
To achieve the established goals, INEGI and the IFT agreed to create coordinated work groups to work on and develop projects based on schedules and which meet the provisions of the Agreement.
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Mexico, Host for the Works of the XXIV Meeting of the Permanent Consulting Commitee of the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (Press Release 45/2014)
Mexico, Host for the Works of the XXIV Meeting of the Permanent Consulting Committee of the Inter-American Telecommunications Commision
- The meeting took place in the city of Merida from September 29th to October 3rd
- The Committee discussed topics related to identifying new frequency bands for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) which are suitable to implement technologies associated to providing mobile broadband services and over the frequency bands used for Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) services at a regional level
From September 29th to October 3rd this year the XXIV Meeting of the Permanent Consulting Committee II (XXIV Reunión del Comité Consultivo Permanente II, CCPII), Radiocommunications, of the Interamerican Telecommunications Commission (Comisión Interamericana de Telecomunicaciones, CITEL), a forum in which, among other works, a number of preparatory papers were presented to reach first a regional level, and then a world level agreement on potential modifications to the Radiocommunications Regulations of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which holds a status of International Treaty.
Mexico is a main actor in this forum at a regional level regarding telecommunications and broadcasting, and therefore, as it was appointed as the host for this Meeting, the importance that our country gives to discussing and analyzing these topics is acknowledged.
CITEL is the advisory body to the Organization of American States (OAS), having as mission the integrated and sustainable promotion of telecommunications. The CCPII, its advisory committee, fosters the planning, coordination, harmonization and efficient use of radio spectrum, as well as of the geostationary and non-geostationary satellite orbits for radio communications services, including broadcasting.
The CCPII develops common positions and creates Interamerican proposals on Radiocommunications and Broadcasting established in World and/or Regional Conferences called under the auspices of the ITU. During the World Radiocommunications Conferences (Conferencias Mundiales de Radiocomunicaciones, CMR) the Radiocommunications Regulations, which rule the use of the radio spectrum and of orbital resources, are reviewed.
Furthermore, the Committee discussed topics related to identifying new frequency bands for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) which are suitable to deploy technologies associated to the supplying of mobile broadband services and over the frequency bands used for Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) services at a regional level.
The work groups also discussed topics leading to improving satellite coordination procedures before the ITU to have access and an efficient use of orbital resources, in addition to subjects associated with broadcasting services, particularly on the future use of frequency bands released as a result of the transition process to digital television in this region.
For these purposes, 144 delegates of 20 Member States of the OAS were accredited for these work groups: Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, United States of America, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. The CCPII meeting was attended by administrations, associate members, officials and observers from CITEL.
Works were concluded with the approval of the Meeting’s Final Report.
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The Plenary of the IFT will impose penalties to Teléfonos de México for carrying out relative monopolistic practices (Press Release 44/2014)
The Plenary of the IFT will impose penalties to Teléfonos de México for carrying out relative monopolistic practices
- Monopolistic practices consisted in carrying out actions in the long distance call termination service of the public telecommunications network on the relevant market for the purpose of wrongfully shifting Axtel from the markets for telephone services in which they compete for end users
- Fine imposed to the Company is for $49 million 320 thousand pesos (MXN), and the elimination of the practice was ordered
In extraordinary session the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) gave resolution to an, at this date, on-going case filed by the Federal Competition Commission (Comisión Federal de Competencia, CFC) regarding an investigation opened by this entity in May 2011 due to the performance of possible relative monopolistic practices in the long distance call termination service of the public telecommunications network of Telmex on the relevant market.
After closure of the corresponding procedure and based upon analysis of information collected, the Plenary of the IFT found Telmex responsible for the practice of relative monopolistic actions, under Article 10 fraction XI of the Federal Economic Competition Law (Ley Federal de Competencia Económica, LFCE), consisting of developing actions intended to hindering the productive process of the concessionaire Axtel in the long distance calls market.
It was substantiated that Telmex put in practice three conducts that hindered the productive process of Axtel:
1) Not meeting the requests filed by Axtel to have access to the long distance interconnection ports and/or links at the ASL, where the interurban traffic switchboards or routing capacity switchboards are located.
2) Not meeting the requests filed by Axtel with respect to the location and assignment of switchboards giving service to localities without point of interconnection available for the local service areas not open to presubscription.
3) Introduction of recorded messages in the long distance calls made from the public telecommunications network of Axtel to be terminated in the public telecommunications network of Telmex. End users were advertised through this message about the potential cancellation of service, for the direct or indirect purpose of reducing the demand faced by competitor Axtel.
Hence, it was determined that such actions applied by Telmex were aimed undue displacement of Axtel from the telephone service provision position to compete for final consumers, and to reduce the demand in the existing market.
Consequently, the IFT resolved, based upon Article 35, fraction V, of the LFCE, to impose a fine for the amount of $49 million 320 thousand pesos (MXN) to Telmex; being the maximum amount of sum stipulated in the above referred legal statute, since this is deemed to be a severe misconduct that affects the services in the public interest, affects the market because the free competition process is hindered. Additionally, there is evidence determining that the Company had the intention to perform the attributed conducts, among others.
The IFT ordered the suppression of above referred relative monopolistic practice.
This case was resolved by the Plenary during the XI extraordinary session, held on September 3rd of the present year. This information is released to the public once each of the parties have been previously notified and furnished with the public version of the resolution that is available in the website of the institute, under Article 2 of the Federal Economic Competition Law, in full force and effect at inception of this procedure.
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Concesiones, permisos y autorizaciones
Certificación y licencias
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Negativas e inexistencias de información
Informes
Con respecto a algunas solicitudes para tener acceso a las sesiones del Pleno, la Coordinación General de Comunicación Social informa lo siguiente:
Las sesiones del Pleno del Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones son de “carácter público”.
En efecto, la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos en su artículo 28, párrafo
vigésimo, fracción VI, señala que la actuación del Pleno del Instituto se regirá cumpliendo, entre
otros con los principios de transparencia y acceso a la información, deliberando en forma
colegiada y decidiendo los asuntos por mayoría de votos; asimismo, establece que sus sesiones,
acuerdos y resoluciones serán de carácter público con las excepciones que determine la ley.
La Ley Federal de Telecomunicaciones y Radiodifusión (LFTR), en su artículo 47, dispone que las
sesiones, acuerdos y resoluciones del Pleno serán de “carácter público”, y sólo se reservarán las
partes que contengan información confidencial o reservada, en términos de la Ley Federal de
Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública Gubernamental (LFTAIPG).
