The Federal Telecommunications Institute undertook a “Plan D” that justifies its existence and the employment of 1,428 Mexicans, who during the López Obrador government were transferred to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation, through a still unknown scheme.
The Federal Institute of Telecommunications of Mexico (IFT) contacted Claudia Sheinbaum, winning candidate of the Mexican presidential election, to start a dialogue on the relevance of having an autonomous regulator in the telephone, Internet, radio, television and other services industries. related to the connectivity of Mexicans.
The disappearance of the IFT as it exists today—an autonomous body still protected by the 2013 constitutional reform and one of the most recognized telecommunications regulators in Latin America, like the new CRC of Colombia that gained more regulatory powers and the powerful Anatel of Brazil which achieved the most successful 5G tender in the world—is included in the package of 18 reforms dubbed “Plan C” that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has commissioned Claudia Sheinbaum to execute starting in September.
The IFT is even recognized by the UK regulator Ofcom, as that entity was inspired by the Mexican regulator's experience in number portability.
The Anatel of Brazil and the IFT of Mexico also recently maintained their vision before that of the United States about the future of the 6 GHz band that that country wanted to impose for all of America, so that this spectrum can be used by different connectivity technologies. of people in times of 5G.
The public justification of the federal government for disappearing the IFT and other autonomous bodies is the cost that their operation means for Mexicans, although the Federal Telecommunications Institute had collected 68,430.46 million pesos (US$ 3.4 billion) for its work. regulatory in favor of the Treasury of the Federation in the first half of the López Obrador government and still between January and March 2024, the IFT collected for the government a total of 12,790 million pesos (US$ 730.2 million), resources which in part financed the social programs of the 4T.
Recently the virtual president-elect of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, ruled out an upcoming meeting with the Inai, another of the autonomous regulators, arguing that the reform related to these entities is not scheduled to be discussed in the first days of September - when it begins. the new legislature in the Congress of the Union—within “Plan C.”
Despite this, the Federal Telecommunications Institute undertook a “Plan D” that justifies its existence and the employment of 1,428 Mexicans, who, if Congress passes “Plan C”, would be transferred to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation ( SICT), through a still unknown scheme.
The IFT then began a “Plan D” with the team of the virtual president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, in order to continue its autonomy and technical specialty that has allowed greater balance in the sector:
"We are attentive to how the legislative process will develop, also taking into account what the president-elect has indicated and based on that, we are going to provide the elements that are on the side of the IFT, with technical specialization so that the best decisions are taken. decisions. for the benefit of the country," said Javier Juárez, president commissioner of the IFT.
Arturo Robles, commissioner of the IFT with a specialty in technical matters, went into more detail about the contact of this authority with the team of the elected president Claudia Sheinbaum.
"As soon as the authority confirmed the district counts, the IFT plenary session sent the interest and invitation to start a dialogue through institutional channels to the campaign team and Dr. Sheinbaum herself."
“Start a dialogue to show the benefits of a (regulator) model like the current one; that it has independence and autonomy and how it has worked much more than other models, so that at the time the decision is made... Because those who have to make them, have all the information available and see, for example, how the Internet has grown , so there are more television channels; with which users have more and more services, thanks to a model like the current one that is autonomy and independence from other powers and that is what has allowed progress,” said Arturo Robles.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wants to assign the functions of the IFT to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation.
Thus, the work that the IFT does today would remain in the hands of a subordinate office of the SICT that would respond more quickly to the interests of the Federal Executive Branch and with a legal figure very similar to that of the National Communications Agency of Argentina (Enacom).
The reform initiative promoted last February by López Obrador to eliminate the IFT is supported by 26 words of a 64-page document in which it is also proposed to eliminate the Inai and the Cofece.
In three lines of argument, the president does not cite why it is positive to eliminate the IFT at a time when Mexico is attractive to investment due to the relocation of industries or nearshoring that demands modern telecommunications infrastructure and a specialized regulator that transmits certainty. .
On February 5, 2024, President López Obrador described the Federal Telecommunications Institute as a regulator “gigantic” in structure and with “high” salaries, and incompetent to end “monopolies.”
However, the Mexico that existed at the birth of the IFT, in 2013, is not the same as the Mexico of 2024:
In mobile telephony, Telcel went from monopolizing 80% of the cellular business to 60% by user volume; Telmex, from dominating 70% of fixed internet in 2014, to owning 39% of subscriptions. AT&T, thanks to the regulatory work of the IFT and that company's investments in the creation of infrastructure, has managed to reach 22 million Mexican users.
And the Televisa Group expanded from broadcasting to telecommunications through Izzi, while Megacable and Totalplay have become leaders in investing in fiber networks due to the guarantees offered by the regulator.
The companies Altán Redes and CFE Telecom are two operators capitalized by the 4T that have also supported coverage, thanks to the concessions that the IFT gave them.
The Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting industry grew 144.7% between June 2013 and March 2022, according to IFT data, through information that companies send quarter by quarter due to the regulatory obligation of that authority.
