Mexico. América Móvil announced an agreement by which it would be credited with 60 MHz of the 2.5 GHz band, currently concessioned to the MVS Group. If this transfer materializes, subject to the approval of the regulatory body, the so-called preponderant operator would become the only telecommunications operator with possession of radio spectrum in the aforementioned band.
This agreement opens a new chapter of review of actions of the preponderant for the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT), precisely in the period of analysis of compliance and evaluation of the effectiveness of asymmetric measures of preponderance. But, above all, more than a year after having identified an illicit concentration between one of its subsidiary companies (Telmex) and MVS-Dish, and a consequent express violation of the rule of gratuity in the retransmission of broadcast signals.
All of them put on hold until now and causing no effect to date for the economic operator in question.
Precisely, the IFT reported that the agreement between América Móvil and MVS must be subject to prior approval to carry out the transfer of the rights on the 2.5 GHz band.
However, some notes and questions that contribute to the analysis work of the regulatory body can be pointed out.
First, the IFT must consider that by approving this indirect acquisition of radio spectrum, the preponderant would not only be the only operator to be creditor of frequencies in the 2.5 GHz band, but would be imposing a barrier to the establishment of similar mobile broadband offer conditions for competing operators, by postponing until next year the award by tender of 130 MHz of the aforementioned band.
Additionally, it would represent, if approved by the regulatory and competition authority in telecommunications, to take a step towards a greater concentration of radio spectrum by the preponderant operator. With this transaction, the dominant operator would have more than half (51%) of the frequencies awarded for the offer of mobile telecommunications services. In other words, in addition to exceeding the criteria of determining the preponderant economic agent by holding more than 50% of the telecommunications sector, the IFT would also allow it to overcome the 50% barrier in the accumulation of the entire spectrum available to the entire industry.
Preponderance and Radio Spectrum
It should be borne in mind that a condition for achieving effective competition in the final services market lies in an equitable distribution of essential resources, such as spectrum.
Therefore, after Tender 21, carried out in 2010, it was achieved that the subsequently determined preponderant operator would own approximately one third of the total allocation in the market.
In the most recent AWS band tender in which the IFT did not apply a spectral cap to that operator, it was thus allowed to reach 41% of the spectrum allocated for mobile telecommunications, while Movistar fell from 25% to 20%; Iusacell and Nextel, which each had 22%, went to 38% after their consolidation as AT&T.
A clear effect of reconcentration to historical levels, by América Móvil.
From this, if the preponderant appropriates those 60 MHz of the 2.5 GHz band, it would give way to a greater spectral reconcentration, in which it would take distance by 20 percentage points from the second main holder of radio spectrum. Clearly disproportionate and contrary to the search for a releveling of market conditions in favour of effective competition, which constitute the spirit of the Telecommunications Reform.
