The Federal Telecommunications Institute originally established the period between May 7 and June 3 for those interested in participating in the competition for frequencies to establish a position on the content of the project.
The Federal Telecommunications Institute of Mexico (IFT) considers an addition of 20 business days to the public consultation phase that is part of the IFT-12 Tender for radio spectrum that will allow companies in the sector to purchase frequencies with which they will develop new 5G service coverage throughout the Aztec country.
The authority originally established the period between May 7 and June 3 for those interested in participating in the competition for frequencies to establish a position on the content of the project. But in the telecommunications sector, various actors have indicated that the deadlines set are insufficient to present comments and analysis on the IFT bidding proposal.
Among the promoters of an extension to public consultation is the National Chamber of the Electronic Industry, Telecommunications and Information Technologies (Canieti), an entity made up of a thousand companies from all over the country that proposes the extension of this stage to at least until July 1.
Companies that need and are financially able to compete for 5G spectrum frequencies participate in Canieti, among them is the operator AT&T, which is also part of the Canieti board of directors and has confirmed that it does maintain interest in that spectrum that will help alleviate the traffic of the 45 million Mexicans who travel through its network. AT&T has stressed that it will buy more spectrum only through more affordable tax criteria.
Canieti is also integrated by Megacable, which, although it has not expressed interest in the frequencies in competition, its Ebitda margin of 46% in the first quarter of 2024 would allow it to purchase spectrum to strengthen its strategies aimed at the business market in the context of the nearshoring.
Telmex and Telcel, companies of the América Móvil group, were members of the Canieti, but today the parties maintain opposing positions regarding the state of the telecommunications sector.
"Since the project (of the IFT-12 Tender) that refers to the public consultation foresees issues of great relevance for the telecommunications sector, this business organization makes a formal request to the IFT to agree to the extension of the public consultation period, of at least 20 business days from the expiration of the originally planned period,” Canieti stated.
The Radioelectric Spectrum Unit of the IFT has confirmed that it will study Canieti's request and that it will soon present this possibility to the plenary session of the Federal Telecommunications Institute, which could vote on it this Wednesday, May 29.
"What we want is for it to be an open process, where no one feels that they have not had the time to analyze the proposal well," said Alejandro Navarrete, director of the Radioelectric Spectrum Unit.
Adding a time cushion to the IFT-12 Tender will also allow the Federal Telecommunications Institute to establish with greater analysis the prices for spectrum frequencies, the so-called minimum reference values, and even match the publication times of these with those that present the new government in the Federal Law of Rights that is part of the 2025 Economic Package.
The IFT-12 Tender contains 6,158 lots of frequencies of national and local scope, and of a technical nature necessary to relieve traffic of 4G services; They are also frequencies to create other 5G products for companies, government or the mass public and to create the first 4G-LTE coverage in regions that are geographically inaccessible or of low economic profitability for companies in the sector, where 5 million Mexicans live without an Internet connection. .
The IFT-12 Tender is of relevance for the Mexican telecommunications sector, since the competition for the frequencies itself and the necessary success of the auction will mean greater Internet penetration and less concentration of the market in Mexico, since then there would be new providers of service that will pressure competition with more aggressive offers in quality and prices in favor of the final consumer.
The IFT-12 would formally start in September 2024, when interested companies make public their interest in some of the frequencies and the next important milestone of this process would occur on May 5, 2025, when interested companies or individuals present their economic offers for the spectrum lots that make sense for your business plan.
