Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones

IFT urged the Federal executive to promote a Constitutional controversy so the Supreme Court confirms the conferred powers to the regulatory body to resolve the retransmission of TV broadcast signals

As reported promptly, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) was notified of the agreement issued by the thirty-second civil judge on February 10th which states that the IFT is not competent to order the free retransmission of certain television broadcast channels, this derived from a dispute between two companies regulated by the Institute.

IFT believes that the resolution of the judge interferes in the exercise of his constitutional powers, as it affects the jurisdiction of the Federation. The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States establishes that it corresponds to the IFT to resolve a dispute regarding retransmission of content, as well as it also grants the Institute the faculties to issue administrative regulations.

As IFT can only sue other bodies or powers of the Union, but not a body or local authority, as established by article 105 of the Constitution, the IFT requested that Federal Executive, in defense of the interests of the Federation, promote constitutional controversy by the Act of the Thirty-second Civil Judge, so that the Supreme Court of Justice of the nation confirms the full faculties that IFT has to resolve on the matter.

IFT expresses its conviction to act always in the framework of the Rule of Law, as well as its appreciation and respect for the Judiciary, whose decisions have been fundamental to the telecommunications sector.

The IFT Plenary addresses various issues in the telecommunications field

• IFT decided to analyze the scope and legal effects of the agreement issued by the 32nd Civil Court, prior to the issuance of the General Guidelines in respect to the retransmission of broadcast signals
• IFT approves the Annual Work Schedule, which sets out the substantive projects to be implemented in the current year
• IFT authorizes modifications to concession titles related to granting the extension of their validity
• IFT resolves the granting of concession titles for the installation of public telecommunications networks

The Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) was notified of the agreement issued by the thirty-second civil judge on February 10th in which designates that the IFT is not competent to order the free retransmission of certain television broadcast channels, this derived from a lawsuit filed in 2011 by Televisa Sociedad Anónima de Capital Variable against Comercializadora de Frecuencias Satelitales Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada de Capital Variable.

In response to this agreement, and in order to determine its scope, the IFT Plenary unanimously agreed to withdraw from the order of today and schedule for a subsequent session the resolution to issue the General Guidelines in terms of supply and retransmission of broadcast signals, structures known as must offer and must carry.

On the other hand, in accordance with the constitutional mandate, the Plenary approved the IFT Annual Work Schedule for 2014, which establishes institutional objectives and substantive projects that this regulatory body will perform this year, in order to comply with the powers that were granted to it.

The program will be delivered to the holder of the Executive Power and the Congress of the Union and will be published on the Institute website in the following days.

Furthermore, the Plenary authorized modifications to the eighth condition of concession titles for capacity provision services for the establishment of point-to-point and point-to-multipoint microwave links belonging to the companies: Operbes, S.A. de C.V., by means of agreement P/IFT/120214/4 and Megacable Comunicaciones de México, S.A. de C.V., by means of agreement P/IFT/120214/5 so that these concessions have the possibility that their applications are subject of analysis for the granting of the extension of their validity by the IFT, authority with the exclusive attribution of determining or not the origin of such request.

The eighth condition of the concession titles of these companies established that granting titles were not subject to extension, in contravention to the provisions of article 19, therefore the resolution adopted today contributes to harmonize the condition marked by current regulations.

Similarly, IFT resolved favorably to review six concession titles applications to install, operate and exploit a public telecommunications network to provide public telecommunications services that technically allow their infrastructure and their network transmission means with coverage in various regions of the country.

IFT also decided to grant, by means of agreement P/IFT/120214/12, a concession title to Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad, AC for the experimental use of bands 845-849 / 890-894 MHz, with coverage in the Region 7"Gulf and South", comprising the States of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Veracruz, for a period of two years.

The Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) and the Federal Executive power will coordinate to handle the transition to Digital Terrestrial Television (Televisión Digital Terrestre, TDT)

 The bidding of digital decoders and antennas for the Second Pilot Program of TV analogical outage was cancelled due to force majeure situations The Federal Executive Power will implement a work program to fully comply with the policy and conclude the transition to DTT by December 31st , 2015 The IFT will fulfill its mandate of protecting the public broadcasting service, as well as achieve the effective management of the spectrum The Telecommunication Constitutional Reforms have redefined the way in which authorities must promote the project to increase Digital Terrestrial Television penetration in the country and cancel open TV analog signal broadcasting in Mexico. In this regard, the Powers of the Union are compelled to promote as much as possible the implementation of reception and decoding equipment for the transition to the Digital Terrestrial Television. The same constitutional mandate establishes the Federal Executive Power shall elaborate a work plan to fully comply with the DTT transition policy, including the necessary budgetary resources. s for the IFT, shall implement the necessary actions to contribute to the objectives and goals set by the National Development Plan and other programmatic tools related to the b road cast in g an d t elecommu n icat i on s sectors. Therefore, the Technical Committee of the Telecommunication Social Coverage Fund ( in Spanish: FONCOS) decided to cancel the resources that would have been used to bid the visit, delivery and installation of digital decoders and dishes in Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, Reynosa a n d Ciudad Juarez, corresponding to the Second Pilot Program of the analog outage. The decision of FONCOS Committee draws on the fact that the IFT is a constitutional independent body, which is not part of the Powers of the Union; therefore, the Federal Executive Power will be in charge of defining the necessary program and budgetary resources to comply with the policy to complete the DTT transition on December 31^st, 2015. Regarding the above, it is deemed necessary to cancel the bidding process implemented by the former Federal Commission of Telecommunications (Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones, COFETEL) resulted in force majeure provided by the Law of Acquisitions, Leases and Services of the Public Sector. IFT will fulfill its mandate of protecting the public broadcasting service, as well as achieve the effective management of the spectrum in coordination with the Federal Executive to comply with provisions provided for in the Constitution.

The IFT Plenary resolves to grant 49 concession titles and 14 permissions to commercialize public telecommunications services 

• These are the first concession titles that the regulating body grants, exercising the powers conferred in the Decree of Constitutional Reform in Telecommunications matters
• Diverse requests addressed comprise part of the files that were in process on the integration date of the IFT
• With these actions, a strong start is taken to comply with the administrative files which resolution was pending
• The IFT Annual Calendar of Ordinary Sessions, and Work Schedule for year 2014 is approved

In extraordinary session, the Plenary of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) resolved to grant 49 concession titles to install, operate and use public telecommunications networks in diverse localities of the country, which will allow the applicants to provide public telecommunications services that are technically possible, considering the infrastructure and transmission means that the given network has.

Diverse requests favorably resolved by the Plenary to obtain these concession titles were in process on the date of the IFT integration, and these comprised part of the files that the Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) handed over to the Institute for processing and service.

As well, the Plenary approved the grant of 14 permits to establish, operate and use telecommunications market developer services.

The grant of the concessions and permissions will harness the availability of reasonable and varied commercial supplies in the market, in benefit of the populations in the diverse coverage areas where services will be provided.

With these actions, a strong start is taken to comply with the administrative files which resolution was pending.

Furthermore, the Plenary approved the Annual Calendar of Ordinary Sessions and the Annual Work Schedule for the year 2014, which will be published in the Federal Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación, DOF) in the next days.

The Plenary approves the Organic Statute of the Federal Telecommunications Institute

• The scheme contemplates the faculties and responsibilities of the different areas in the IFT, as well as from their control system, required to take care of the constitutional mandates that were conferred.
• The IFT is integrated with the Plenary, the Economic Competition Unit, the Regulatory Policy Unit, the Industry Services Unit, the Radio and TV Systems Unit, the Supervision and Verification Unit and the Legal Unit.

On a first session, in exercise of the faculty conferred in article 28 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, the Plenary of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) unanimously approved the Organic Statute with which the regulator and authority will operate in the following months in the matter of economic competition of the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, in order to comply with the constitutional mandates as well as the subjects and proceedings that are received, analyzed, processed and resolved every day.

Given the need that the IFT has administrative units equipped with competition to act and to fulfill constitutional mandates immediately, the Plenary approved the Organic Statute, which takes advantage of the administrative structure of the extinct Federal Telecommunications Commission while it issues a new statute result of a deep analysis of the internal processes and the secondary legislation that the Congress of the Union issues.

In this sense, it emphasizes the following:

• The Plenary and the administrative units of the IFT incorporate the necessary faculties to carry out the functions of the Institute that derive from their constitutional mandates.
• Broadcasting and telecommunication services are considered public and, therefore, the rights of the users must be considered.
• The Economic Competition Unit is created to take care of the faculties of the Institute in this matter with respect to the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors and the strict separation between the authorities in charge of the investigation stage and the resolution in the procedures followed in judgment form, is ensured, pursuant to the Constitution.
• The possibility of public consultations in the subjects that are competition with the Institute are considered, and the analysis of the considered regulatory impact of the administrative dispositions of general character that may be issued.
• Due to the concern the IFT has about transparency and access to public information, the Organic Statute includes the possibility of the creation of a Transparency Council, that will be the internal organ of the Institute that will take care of and solve the recourses of review which are interposed by individuals against the resolutions of the Information Committee, pursuant to the Federal Law of Transparency and Access to Public Information.
• Also, according to the commitment that the IFT has to public accountability, the Organic Statute establishes the attributions of the Internal Comptroller, which will be exerted by the officials assigned to the area, until the holder of this Comptroller by the House of Representatives is appointed, in exercise of their constitutional powers.

The members of the Plenary considered that with this Statute, certainty and legal security is granted for its performance as the regulating body for telecommunications and broadcasting, as well as in the matter of economic competition in these sectors, while beginning the works on the institutional design that the IFT must have in the future.

 The IFT Plenary resolves the request received related to the frequencies bid program to form two digital open television networks

• The representations made by various interested parties on the content of the program are addressed.
• Eight frequencies expected in the program are modified and aspects related to detrimental interferences and the reference coordinates in the coverage areas are defined.

On December the 20th of 2013, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) published in the Federal Official Gazette the “Bidding and Awarding Program of Frequencies of Digital Broadcast Television”. Pursuant to the final paragraph of article 17-A of the Federal Radio and Television Law, any interested party may request, within the 30 (thirty) following calendar days to the publication of the Program, that additional or different frequencies and geographic coverage from the ones offered are put up to bid, term that concluded on January the 20^th of 2014. This regulating body received eight petitions from the same number of participants and addressed the comments on the Program's content.

In the first extraordinary session of 2014 held today, the IFT Plenary resolved each one of the requests received. Also, it decided to modify eight frequencies expected in the Program and to add a note which clarifies questions related to manifestations on possible detrimental interferences and to the reference coordinates of the coverage zones in which the broadcast television service may be rendered.

Also, the reference coordinates in four frequencies were adjusted and as a result of the continuous collaboration with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States of America, in terms of the applicable bilateral instruments, the coordination of four channels was concluded, which derived in the modification of four more anticipated frequencies in the Program.

With these actions, the Institute complied with what is established in article 17-A of the Federal Radio and Television Law, and offers certainty and clarity to the possible participants in the bidding process, as well as to the present broadcast television service providers.

The Federal Telecommunications Institute Plenary approves the pricing plans of TELMEX-TELNOR basket of controlled basic services

• IFT decides that the pricing proposal Telmex/Telnor observes the parameters of the cap prices in force
• It approved 40 extensions to concession certificates to different companies or individuals in different locations of the country
• It decides to grant five new concessions to install, operate and exploit a public telecommunications network
• It authorized the granting of permits to establish and operate two market developers of telecommunication services

In the ordinary session held today, the Plenary of the Federal Telecommunications Institute  (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) decided to authorize 62 pricing plans for Teléfonos de México, S.A.B. de C.V. and 57 pricing plans for Teléfonos del Noroeste, S.A. de C.V., proposed by these companies, in compliance with the parameters of the cap-prices system that apply to the services included in the basket of controlled basic services to which both concessionaires are subject, according to the provisions of their concession certificates.

The Plenary established that said pricing proposals are consistent with the parameters established in due course by the Ministry of Communications and Transports for 2011 to 2014 four-year period, and allow to provide the services in conditions of quality, competitiveness and permanency and, thus, it considered that the rates fulfill the conditions set forth in the concession certificates since the existence of monopolistic practices, discriminatory treatment or tied sales is not observed.

The pricing plans approved by the IFT Plenary form a part of the pending matters files that the SCT delivered to the Institute.

Conversely, the IFT Plenary decided to deliver 40 extensions to concession certificates to different companies or individuals in different country locations.

Such concessions are listed hereinbelow:

The Plenary of the IFT also decided to grant five new concessions to install, operate and exploit a public telecommunications network in different locations of the country:

Finally, in the same session, the IFT Plenary, decided to grant two permits to establish and operate one market developer of communication services in favor of the company Distrokom, S. de R.L. de C.V. and of Sandra Cuevas Viveros, and approved the I Quarterly Report of Activities 2014 that will be submitted to the Executive and Legislative Branches of the Federation.

The Federal Telecommunications Institute Plenary approves the minimum reference value to request proposals for digitally broadcasted television frequencies, to form two networks with national coverage

• IFT decides the amount of the bid security that the parties interested in participating in this process shall establish and file.
• The electronic tool is released so that the parties interested in participating in the bid may choose up to 123 Coverage Zones, with which they shall form their offer for each one of the networks. Said tool is available in the Institute web site.
• IFT will grant the broadcasting channels concession that will form the national networks according to the contents of both the economic offers and coverage submitted.
• The criterion to define the successful bidder will not be only considered in economic terms.

Yesterday an extraordinary session was held wherein the Plenary of the Federal Telecommunications Institute  (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) approved the minimum reference value of the competitive bidding of digitally broadcasted television frequencies to form two networks with national coverage to provide this service.

The minimum reference value corresponds to the amount that the parties interested must equal or exceed in their economic offer for each national network in order to participate in the competitive bidding of digitally broadcasted television frequencies.

The Institute Plenary fixed the minimum reference value in 830 million pesos for each one of the television networks. This amount is independent from the final number of broadcasted channels that will be awarded, if applicable, to each of the networks, provided. However, the criterion of “national network” set forth in the Bidding Rules are observed.

In order to establish the minimum reference value, the criterion of economic efficiency was considered, as well as the entrance barriers and the existing characteristics of the free-to-air television, pursuant to the provisions of subsection II of the Eighth Transitory Article of the Constitutional Decree of Amendment in Telecommunications matters, published in the Federal Official Gazette on June 11^th of 2013.

Once the minimum reference value was established, the IFT Plenary fixed the amount of the guaranty of a serious offer that all the participants in the bidding must establish and submit to the

Institute, and which shall be made effective in case of disqualification in the process, including the consideration nonperformance in the payment.

The guaranty of serious offer was fixed by the Plenary in 415 million pesos, and shall be established by each proposal for national network submitted.

Likewise, in the session, the electronic tool that the participants in the competitive bidding will use to choose the coverage zones that will form their coverage offer, was presented and released to the Plenary. This tool is available on the Institute webpage under the section Competencia económica (Competitive Bidding) IFT-1.

As informed timely, on December 18th of 2013, the IFT Plenary, approved the new Program to Tender Bids for Digitally Broadcasting Television, which was modified on January 30th of 2014 and formed by 123 Coverage zones and 246 channels to be offered for competitive bidding, in order to form two national networks.

According to the Bidding Rules published on March 7th of the current year, the IFT will evaluate both economic and coverage offers submitted, and will choose the successful bidders based on a points system to be assigned under the formula and criteria indicated in Appendix B to the Rules.

The criterion to define the successful bidders will not be purely economic, insofar that aspects which include the technical, legal, administrative and financial capacities of the participants will be taken into account, as well as the limitation to the accumulation of spectrum set forth in the Constitution and the maximization of coverage through the Evaluation Formula defined in the Rules.

This competitive bidding will be performed in four stages, which will conclude next year:

First Stage: Questions and answers, and tender of documentation to the Institute.

Second Stage: Rendering of an opinion and records of participation.

Third Stage: Opening and rating of coverage and economic bids.

Fourth stage: Contract award and delivery of concession certificates.

The Rules documents, Exhibits and Appendixes, as well as the amount of the minimum reference amount, can be consulted on the Institute webpage, in the following link:

https://www.ift.org.mx/iftweb/industria-intermedia/unidad-de-sistemas-de-radio-ytelevision/licitaciones-en-curso-radio-y-television/licitacion-ift-1/

The Ministry of Public Service and the Federal Telecommunications Institute sign a partnership agreement for the use of DeclaraNet

• This agreement moves toward transparency and accountability

The Undersecretary of Administrative Responsibilities and Public Procurement, Manager of the Office of the Ministry of Public Service (Secretaría de la Función Pública, SFP), Julián Olivas Ugalde, and the Commissioner President of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) Gabriel Contreras Saldívar, signed a partnership agreement for the use of the DeclaraNet online service.

Olivas Ugalde pointed out that it is very important that constitutionally autonomous bodies, as in the case of IFT, recently created by our legal system, comply with their obligations and that the signing of this agreement moves toward transparency and accountability.

He said that this works toward a more user-friendly system for public officials who access the system to submit their corresponding assets declaration with their undertakings.

The Manager of the Office of the SFP explained that DeclaraNet is a mechanism that assists in the investigation of irregularities under the responsibilities of public servants, and pointed out that audits, complaints and allegations in many cases would not be accounted for without an additional tool for asset statements.

In turn, IFT Commissioner President, Gabriel Contreras Saldívar, thanked the support provided by SFP to simplify the fulfillment of returns that the Constitution and the Law states for public servants.

He noted that DeclaraNet has proven to be a useful tool, which has evolved and has been perfected so that public servants comply with their duties and thus favor transparency and accountability.

He said that when the Federal Commission of Telecommunications became the Federal Telecommunications Institute, the first challenge was to comply with assets accountability.

Contreras Saldivar said that he is waiting for the House of Deputies, based on Constitutional Reform, to appoint the head of the IFT Internal Audit Department, for the compliance of constitutional obligations in the best possible manner.

SFP General Manager for Responsibilities and Assets, Javier Vargas Zempoaltecatl; SFP General Director of Information Technology, Manuel Sebastián Casillas Ruppert and IFT Technical Secretary, Juan José Crispín Borbolla attended the signing of the agreement.

The Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT) Plenary approves the program to tender bids and award frequencies to form two digitally broadcasted television networks

• The Program is formed by 246 frequencies under the principles of efficient operation of markets, maximum national coverage of services, the right to information and media social services.
• Under the principle of spectral efficiency, a higher sector of the population and a greater geographic surface are covered with regards to the original program.
• We managed to reduce the number of channels located in the 600 MHz band from 112 to 65, 13 of which were located in the border strip, which implied the coordination of works with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, allowing that this band may eventually be cleared in the future.
• The “Program to Concession Television Broadcasting Frequencies that may be subject of Competitive Bids”, published in the Federal Official Gazette on June the 12th of 2012, as well as the amendment thereto of August the 16th of even year, is repealed.

In an extraordinary session, the Plenary of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones, IFT) unanimously approved the new Program to Tender Bids and Award Frequencies of Digitally Broadcasted Television to be conducted in 2014, these concessions of frequencies may be grouped in order to form at least two national networks that will have national coverage, in compliance with the instruction set forth in the Constitutional Amendment Decree in telecommunications matters.

The Program was designed to make a more efficient use of the radio spectrum and achieve a territorial and population coverage greater than the coverage pursued by the extinct Federal Telecommunications Commission program, published on June 12th of 2012 in the Federal Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación, DOF), which has been repealed, as well as the amendment thereto on August 16th of even year.

Thus, the IFT decided that the Program to Tender Bids for digital free-to-air television services will consist on 123 coverage zones that form 246 channels, to be tendered under the principles of efficient operation of markets, maximum national coverage, right to information and social services of the media.

The program to tender bids of June of 2012 included 306 channels to tender in 153 locations with a configuration of national networks, regional networks or even service stations that provide services in individualized locations; however, once an extensive analysis was made, and in order to comply with the constitutional instruction to form at least two television networks with national coverage, the IFT Plenary decided to amend it and issue an new Program, which design manages to cover a greater sector of the population and a greater geographical surface with respect to the former.

Under the criterion of spectral efficiency, the bidding scheme approved eliminates 68 channels included in the original program, which coverage was already attended by others, and incorporated 8 channels in locations that were not previously serviced, apart from the fact that the radio coverage of some of them were extended.

Furthermore, we managed to reduce the number of channels located in t h e 600 MHz band from 112 to 65, 13 of which were located in the border strip , which implied works coordinated with the United States of America Federal Communications Commission. These actions will eventually allow to clear the band of 600 MHz in a near future.

The approved program stipulates that potential licensees may only be entitled to provide broadcasting services in relation to each (channel) frequency within the zone of coverage defined by the radio, and the specific coordinates defined in the selfsame program.

According to this decision, the IFT guarantees the constitutional provision whereby a public service of collective interest, such as broadcasting, is provided under conditions of competitiveness and promoting a greater plurality of information, which is consistent with the instruction set forth in Article 28 of the Constitution.

The program will be published in the Federal Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación, DOF) in a few days, whereby the IFT has set the foundations that enable the full observance of the provisions of sub section II of the Eighth Transitory Article of the Decree of Constitutional Amendment, that foresees the issuance of the invitation to bid and the rules for competitive biddings for Frequencies of Digitally Broadcasted Television, according to the terms set forth for these purposes by the selfsame constitutional text.

The Technical Portability Committee convenes

Furthermore, the officers of the IFT convened the Technical Portability Committee and conducted the First Ordinary Session of 2013, attended by the 18 companies that form it, represented by 21

persons in charge .

In the context of the First Ordinary Session, such Committee informed to the officers appointed by the Plenary Session of the Institute that, from now on, they will promptly supervise this Committee, and a Portability portal was presented on the IFT webpage as a communication tool amongst the Committee members.

In this session, the matters of greater significance and interest for their members were also discussed, and the Calendar of Ordinary Sessions of 2014 was agreed upon, in order to have an active participation and greater commitment with the sessions for the next year.

Portability is the right of users which promotes a substantial improvement in the quality of services, a greater offer of products and rates reduction, insofar that competitiveness is strengthened and licensees will make their best efforts to maintain their users or attract new subscribers. The number portability will facilitate the subscriber decision regards to the licensee that such subscriber prefers to acquire for the service.