Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones

IFE and IFT sign a framework agreement for collaboration for broadcasting media monitoring

The Federal Electoral Institute (Instituto Federal Electoral, IFE) and the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) signed the framework agreement for collaboration for technical support in the field of media broadcasting monitoring , use of equipment, facilities and exchange of information and digital files belonging to the electoral body. This agreement, signed by IFE Minister President Benito Nacif and IFT Commissioner President Gabriel Contreras Saldivar, deepen the bonds of collaboration between the two independent agencies, which will be able to share information, technical expertise and technology platforms in order to strengthen the exercise of their legal powers in the field of radio and television. In the presence of the Electorate Counselor, María Marván, of the Electorate Advisers, Marco Antonio Baños and Lorenzo Córdova; of the IFT Commissioners, María Elena Estavillo, Sofía Labardini, Fernando Borjón, Mario Fromow, Ernesto Estrada and Adolfo Cuevas, as well as the Executive Secretary, Edmundo Jacobo; the Acting President Adviser, said that this agreement represents a partnership that is indispensable for the proper functioning of the Mexican State and its institutions. Benito Nacif said that the IFE and IFT collaboration in this task will allow us to provide coherence to regulation and achieve the necessary harmony to provide certainty to the obligors and provide guarantees to the citizens on the correct functioning of the political communication model. The Interim Chairman CEO reiterated that the challenge is to better regulate, meaning an adequate, accurate control and the least intrusive as possible of the regulated activities of the Press Release subjects, while safeguarding the rights of the citizens and the prerogatives of the political parties. During the signing of the agreement, the IFT President Commissioner expressed his conviction that this legal instrument will allow to consolidate fluent communication between both institutes, as well as to optimize the use of the infrastructure and installed capacity of both agencies. "Both the Federal Electoral Institute and Federal Telecommunications Institute have powers related to transmissions in the broadcasting field, and while both were created for different purposes and are based on different constitutional principles, they require similar ̶in some cases identical ̶mechanisms to support the constitutional mandate that founded them", Contreras Saldivar said. The IFT President reiterated that "the collaboration agreement that we endorse today will involve an efficient exercise of public resources, through the optimum use of the infrastructure and the capacity installed by both agencies, so as to share information, experiences and technical elements that provide the best exercise of the powers that both agencies have entrusted to us". In turn, the President of the IFE Radio and Television Commission, Electoral Adviser Lorenzo Córdova, said that with this agreement a strategic alliance materializes which will strengthen the Mexican State in its role as industry regulator, which will allow radio and television concession holders have coordinated and unambiguous replies which will translate into clarity and legal certainty. Both IFT and IFE, in their respective fields, have powers related to broadcasting transmissions, particularly since the electoral reform of 2007-2008, which defined the electoral body as the sole authority for the administration of Radio and Television time for electoral purposes. During the event that announced the collaboration agreement, the signatories agreed that both instances frequently require similar mechanisms, in some cases identical, to meet their constitutional obligations. IFE has developed an Integrated System for the Administration of State Times (Sistema Integral para la Administración de Tiempos del Estado, SIATE), which allows it to monitor transmissions for electoral purposes, broadcast both on radio and on television, and adhere to the regulations and the guidelines defined by the authority. IFT has a national radio monitoring network to carry out its monitoring functions and frequencies spectrum. These are some of the potential areas of collaboration, among others, that will have to be defined from the signing of the agreement. The cooperation agreement, signed in the IFE premises, envisages the creation of an "Ad-hoc Expert Group", comprising representatives of both institutions, which will evaluate and define the scope, mechanisms and instruments for collaboration and exchange. The cooperation agreement signed between IFE and IFT entails and furthers a natural alliance between two autonomous bodies of the Mexican State, which will strengthen their ability to fully comply their legal and constitutional powers with efficiency and opportunity.