Mexico. To define the parameters by which the transmissions of free-to-air TV signals will be carried out through subscription systems, the Federal Institute of Telecommunications, Ifetel, makes a public consultation between November 20 and December 19.
The project is related to the general guidelines related to the application of the schemes called must carry and must offer, through which technical criteria are foreseen for the proper application of the obligations provided for in the Constitution for concessionaires of open and restricted television in terms of offer and retransmission of the radio broadcasts.
The must carry consists of the obligation of restricted television providers to retransmit free-to-air television channels. According to the Decree on the Constitutional Reform of Telecommunications, such retransmission must be free and non-discriminatory, within the same geographical coverage area, in full, simultaneously and without modifications, including advertising and with the same quality as the original signal.
The aforementioned Decree establishes in the case of concessionaires of restricted satellite television, that they must only retransmit mandatorily the broadcast signals of coverage of fifty percent or more of the national territory.
The must offer consists of the obligation of concessionaires of free-to-air or broadcast television to allow providers of restricted television services to retransmit their signal, free of charge and without discrimination, within the same geographical coverage area, in full, simultaneously and without modifications, including advertising and with the same quality of the signal that is broadcast.
The obligations to offer and retransmit broadcast content free of charge shall cease to apply simultaneously where conditions of competition exist in the broadcasting and telecommunications markets.
The IFT will consider the results of the public consultation for the issuance of the guidelines, and once it issues its resolution, it will publish a document that generally addresses the comments, opinions and concrete proposals received, specifying, where appropriate, which of them resulted in adaptations and specifications to the aforementioned guidelines.
