Mexico’s new man in the telecom regulatory hot-seat, Mony de Swaan, has come out of his corner swinging.
The new head of Mexico’s independent telecom regulator, Cofetel, pledged to intensify the ties between his office and the Mexican government in order…
Mexico’s new man in the telecom regulatory hot-seat, Mony de Swaan, has come out of his corner swinging.
The new head of Mexico’s independent telecom regulator, Cofetel, pledged to intensify the ties between his office and the Mexican government in order to encourage competition, drive down prices and improve infrastructure in the sector dominated by billionaire telecoms magnate, Carlos Slim.
In the past Cofetel, has clashed with government over policy changes and has been slow to improve competition. But de Swaan, who was elected chairman of Cofetel last week, promised to be more aggressive.
“This is an independent body that has to work in a coordinated and collaborative way together with the ministry,” de Swaan said in a press conference.
Slim has long dominated Mexico’s telecom industry, with 70% of the wireless market held by America Movil while Telmex, his other Mexican telecom operation, controls 80% of fixed-lines.
Experts say a lack of competition in everything from telecoms to cement has long stifled growth in Mexico. As reported earlier, Cofetel is now tendering spectrum for wireless operators to expand their services and de Swaan said additional frequencies could be put on the auction block later this year.
This runs in conjunction with the auction for cable spectrum, the first stage of which closed on 13 July for US$69.3m. A coalition of Grupo Televisa, Megacable and Spains Telefonica, won a 20-year concession to lease 19,457km of unused fibre-optic cable from the Mexican government.
The current mobile frequency auctions will help promote the position of Telefonica in Mexico. The Spanish telecommunications company lies a distant second in Mexico’s wireless industry behind America Movil.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon appointed de Swaan to the commission after Cofetel head Hector Osuna stepped down in June.
