Mexico. Due to the lack of legal solidity, those who wish to take over the two open television channels that will go out to tender in Mexico will not be able to pay the consideration of the law in kind, that is, with the distribution of decoders and antennas, as had been initially proposed.
This was announced by Mony de Swaan, president of Cofetel, who indicated that there was no tranquility among those interested in the bidding of the channels due to the legal solidity that this type of payment could have.
In addition, the official indicated that this would not be a good precedent for the new tenders of other goods and clarified that the payment in kind was not rejected, but withdrawn after a consensus between those who must structure the tender, which includes Cofetel and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.
The possibility that the winners of the tender for the new channels would pay in kind arose due to the low penetration of digital television in some areas of Mexico. That is why Cofetel was studying the possibility that among the compensation they had to give to the state, were to distribute decoders and install antennas in the areas of lower coverage of the country.
Another point on which Cofetel is currently working on the bidding of the channels, according to Mony de Swaan, is that the interested parties are clear about the challenges that whoever wins the tender will have to face.
