Mexico City.- The Ministry of Finance refused to modify the payment of rights for the use of the radio spectrum imposed in the Federal Law of Rights, so prices will remain high for 2024 and the telecommunications sector will face difficulties next year, according to an expert.
“The concessionaires of the frequency bands of the radio spectrum subject to the payment of the rights mentioned in the previous paragraph, must pay during the fiscal year 2024, the current rights corresponding to the fiscal year 2023,” said the Treasury.
When presenting its General Economic Policy Criteria for 2024, the agency argued that no modification was made because since they are State assets and are linked to the economic growth of the Country, new adaptations in payments were not necessary.
This was decided despite the various recommendations previously made by the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) and the Global Mobile Ecosystem Association, among others.
Michel Hernández Tafoya, director of the Mexican Telecommunications Observatory (Observatel), commented that by not following any recommendations from analysts and companies in the field, the telecommunications sector will face various complicated scenarios.
Among them, there will be difficulties in tendering new bands, mainly those that include the IFT-12 tender for the development and exploitation of 5G networks; as well as the risk of more return of radio spectrum.
He also warned of greater concentration in the market by one operator.
“There will be greater concentration in the market by an operator, which in turn will generate a lower offer of telecommunications services and less innovation in the market,” said the specialist.
In terms of collection, the IFT recognized in the middle of the year that if the price of the radio spectrum was maintained only for this year, the State would collect 17 thousand 386 million pesos for payment of rights, a drop of 14 percent compared to what it collected ago. four years.
With warnings issued for several years, the GSMA already maintained that while in Latin America the annual spectrum cost rates represent an average of 20 percent, in Mexico that number reaches 85 percent.
“The high proportion that annual rights represent in relation to initial payments, added to the fact that they are adjusted annually by Congress, generates uncertainty that negatively impacts any capital-intensive industry,” said the organization that brings together the main operators. of telecommunications around the world.
