Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones

IFT Plenary approves the 2015 Annual Work Program

• The regulatory agenda includes 93 projects that are part of a comprehensive strategy that allows effectively regulate and promote competition in the sectors of telecommunications and broadcasting, for the benefit of users and audiences

• Stresses the implementation of studies and research to meet technological and market changes, through a vision of regulatory prospective

• Quarterly Report October-December 2014 of Activities was approved

The Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) Plenary approved in extraordinary session the 2015 Annual Work Program (Programa Anual de Trabajo, PAT) in which the actions and regulatory policy projects that this regulatory body considers to develop this year are included.

In this work program is considered the development of projects that track the new regulatory policy implemented in 2014, advancing issues in process as well as new projects and implementation of studies and research in telecommunications, broadcasting and economic competition matters to address technological and market changes through a vision of regulatory foresight.

Altogether there are 93 regulatory agenda projects and 5 researches. Thus, 48% correspond to projects for continuing regulatory policy 2014, 46% are part of strategic themes 2015 and 5% are studies and researches for regulatory foresight.

The projects and activities are described in the document, which is now available for query on page https://www.ift.org.mx/iftweb/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PAT-2015-vF.pdf are part of a comprehensive strategy that allows effectively regulate and promote competition in the sectors of telecommunications and broadcasting for the benefit of user and audiences. Besides, there will be measures to strengthen IFT internally, which will redound to improve their performance, to give greater certainty to regulated entities and, thus above, generate affordable prices, better quality of services and more options for users and audiences.

The focus of this year's agenda will move forward in fostering technological sectors of telecommunications and broadcasting convergence and modernization, and to protect the rights and interests of users and audiences.

The strategies that the IFT is going to follow this year will be:

• Institutional Strengthening

• Regulatory and Competence Policies in Telecommunications and Broadcasting sectors

• Spectrum Policy

• Infrastructure Deployment and Modernization

• Rights and Interests of Users and Audiences

• Regulated Industries Specific Regulations

IFT Plenary also adopted its Quarterly Activities Report for October December 2014.

Among the actions taken by the regulatory body, during the referred period, highlights the issuing of favorable opinion on economic competence matters over applications presented by eight interested in participating in the bidding for concessions of frequencies to form two new digital broadcast television channels with national coverage.

Also, last December the IFT Plenary approved the 2015 Use and Development of Frequency Bands Annual Program, whereby Spectrum Frequency Bands are determined to be tendered or who may be allocated directly; as well as the Agreement that determined the termination of analog broadcasting in the coverage areas of the 14 broadcast television stations serving in Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and Matamoros, in Tamaulipas.

Moreover, in order to promote transparency and citizen participation, the Institute Plenary approved to undergo to public consultation the Guidelines for Collaboration Draft on Security and Justice matters that concessionaires must abide and, where appropriate, the authorized, for the cooperation with the competent authorities is effective and timely; and the technical and operational conditions Draft for effective unbundling of the local network of the Preponderant Economic Agent. Numerical Portability Rules were also approved, with which users of fixed and mobile telephony are allowed to change the provider, retaining the same telephone number that in a more agile and simple manner.

During the last quarter of 2014, the IFT published in the Federal Official Gazette, the provisions that concessionaires that provide public telecommunications services must comply to ensure that will benefit users from the elimination of charges to domestic long distance from January, 1^st, 2015, as well as the methodology for calculating interconnection costs; electronic system of interconnection applications and interconnection rates that will be in effect this year, in addition to the minimum technical conditions for the interconnection between concessionaires who operate public telecommunications networks.

Moreover, the Plenary of the Institute resolved in extraordinary session, four interconnection disagreements between concessionaires of public telecommunications networks and concessionaires belonging to the Preponderant Economic Agent PEA (Agente Económico Preponderante, AEP) in that sector.

Two of these resolutions refer to the interconnection conditions not agreed between Teléfonos de Mexico, S.A.B de C.V (Telmex), on the one hand, and Teléfonos de Noroeste, S.A. de C.V. (Telnor) on the other, with Mega Cable, S.A. de C.V. (Megacable). In both cases, the IFT established that fees for Switched Termination Services shall observe the provisions of Article 131 of the Federal Telecommunications and Broadcasting Law.

Also traffic termination/origination charges in transit to and from a third network, shall be:

a) From April 6th, 2014 to December 31^st, 2014, it must be observed the Asymmetric Tariffs Agreement that will be charged by the PEA.

b) For the period from January 1^st to December 31^st, 2015, it shall be on the provision of interconnection rates, applicable to 2015 approved by the IFT last December.

The IFT also agreed, inter alia, that Telmex and Telnor should give to Megacable peering through the SIP signaling protocol. They should also allow use of same interconnection link to study different types of traffic and deliver items to the efficient interconnection in defined deadlines.

Moreover, the IFT Plenary resolved the interconnection conditions not agreed between Radiomóvil Dipsa, S.A. de C.V. (Telcel) and Talktel, S.A. de C.V. Based on this, the first must give the second peering through the SIP signaling protocol and allow the use of a single interconnection link to study different types of traffic.