海角大神

The Mexican government is taking aim at the聽system that enriched the country鈥檚 billionaires with a proposed reform of its telecommunications industry.

Backed by all three major political parties and President Enrique Pe帽a Nieto, the reform would open the telecommunications market to greater foreign investment, create two new all-access television channels, and subject companies to tougher competition rules 鈥� all with an eye on providing Mexican consumers with more choice and lower prices when it comes to phone and television services.

Carlos Slim鈥檚 Am茅rica M贸vil dominates landlines and cellular phone service in Mexico through his companies Telmex and Telcel, which respectively claim 80 percent and 70 percent of those markets. Mr. Slim has ranked as the world鈥檚 richest person on Forbes鈥� list for four years running.

In television, Mexico's two free channels split local audiences, Emilio Azc谩rraga鈥檚 Televisa with 70 percent of viewers and Ricardo Salinas鈥� TV Azteca with the rest. Together they control roughly 90 percent of the television advertising market. They鈥檙e competitors but partners, too: Televisa and TV Azteca each own half of cellular phone provider Iusacell.

Those three 鈥撀燗m茅rica M贸vil, Televisa, and TV Azteca 鈥撀爃ave managed to derail many attempts at reform over the years with effective lobbying and legal challenges. But in a show of unity on the issue, political leaders of all stripes unveiled the proposal together on Monday.

鈥淭he bad reputations the companies have generated for exploiting their dominant power for their own benefit has allowed all political parties to come together,鈥� says Eduardo Garcia, editor-in-chief of the business news website . 鈥淚n principle, it looks very positive for the Mexican economy 鈥� and not very positive for the companies involved.鈥�

'Sharper teeth'

If approved by legislators, the reform will dismantle the current 鈥� largely ineffective 鈥撀爎egulatory structure that has one independent agency reviewing cases and recommending fines, and another government ministry 鈥� subject to political whims 鈥� rarely imposing them. The result of this divided responsibility is regulatory gridlock.

The top phone and television companies are 鈥渒nown for their excellent law firms,鈥� says Alexander Elbittar, economist and telecommunications expert at CIDE, a public university in Mexico City. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e dedicated to protecting themselves with the amparo,鈥� a legal shelter or injunction.

The reform sets up a new regulatory agency that would ostensibly have sharper teeth, including the ability to levy sanctions, impose additional regulations on dominant players, and limit market concentration nationally and regionally. New specialized courts would be led by judges with expertise in competition and telecommunications law.

鈥淚f you are going to create the potential for liberalized industry, you have to have somebody to enforce the provisions,鈥� says Eric Farnsworth, vice president Council of Americas in Washington DC. 鈥淭he regulator has to be impartial and insulated from political pressures to the extent possible.鈥�

Mexicans may not immediately see more options in areas like landline phone service, where growth is slow and potential competitors may still be wary to take on Telmex, Mr. Farnsworth says. But the reform may well open the door to 鈥渘ew services that we take for granted in the US 鈥撀燽roadband, clearly,鈥� Fransworth says.

'Bring on the competition'

In Mexico, where the digital divide is especially wide; better, cheaper access to broadband Internet could be one important benefit to consumers. The reform would even declare broadband access as a basic constitutional right. Many Mexicans would also welcome additional competition in phone service; although prices have come down somewhat in recent years, because companies offer benefits for "in-network" calling, Telcel's wide grip on the market makes it difficult, and expensive, to switch to competitors.

Am茅rica M贸vil told in a statement that it supports the sector鈥檚 opening up to foreign investment. (Mexican law currently only allows 49 percent ownership by a foreign company of phone or cable assets.)

鈥淲e compete in 18 countries where we benefit from this type of policy of openness to investment, and we鈥檝e always supported such openness,鈥� an Am茅rica M贸vil spokesperson said by email.

Televisa鈥檚 Mr. Azcarraga appeared similarly open minded. The billionaire tweeted, 鈥淭he #ReformaTelecomunicaciones has been presented. Time for big challenges and also opportunities. Bring on the competition.鈥�