Mexico. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) presented the 2017 update of its ICT Development Index (RTD) which consists of an indicator that allows measuring and comparing the scope of Information and Communication Technologies.
(ICT), as well as the size of the digital divide in a list of 176 economies. In this ninth edition, the index brings together 11 variables that it classifies into three sub-indices. The first refers to the level of access or availability of ICT, the second concentrates variables on the intensity of its use, while the third seeks to measure the skills that matter for the adoption of these technologies.
For 2017, the RTD was led by Iceland with a score of 8.78 points (out of a maximum of 10), while Mexico obtained the 87th position out of 176 with 5.16 points, which is slightly above the global average RTD that resulted in 5.11 points.
In 2016, the RTD was composed of a list of 175 economies, in which Mexico ranked 92nd with a score equivalent to 4.87 points, behind the world average equivalent to 4.94 points. In other words, in just one year there was an advance of 5 positions and a rating improvement of 0.24 points.
In the sections dedicated to each of the countries, it is pointed out that in Mexico there has been progress since the Constitutional Reform, but that the country is still below regional levels mainly due to two reasons: the high concentration that the Preponderant Economic Agent still registers, as well as the marked inequality existing in the population in terms of income, education and digital skills.
What the document does not refer to is that there is causality between these two variables. For decades we have had an extremely concentrated telecommunications market that has prevented the entry of new bidders, therefore, competitors and investments in infrastructure that at the end of the day resulted in high prices of services and poor quality and coverage, circumstances by which only the highest socioeconomic levels of the population could have access.
Of course, there is progress in the use and exploitation of ICTs, and since the reform the prices of telecommunications services have been significantly reduced. However, among the variables included in the RTD, only 5 out of 14 exceed the level of the Americas region. There are still pending issues to even reach the average of the region, let alone worldwide.
If we want to continue advancing, position ourselves above the average of the region and bring all telecommunications services to the most disadvantaged levels of the population, it is very important that the application of asymmetric regulation towards the Preponderant Economic Agent is maintained, even strengthened, and its application is not relaxed or invalidated, since its expected effects are not yet recorded, at least not those related to the gestation of competition for optimal and effective access to telecommunications in our country.
Text written by Gonzalo Rojon of The Competitive Intelligence Unit S.C.
