The Telecommunications Sector in Mexico: Present and Future in the Context of the 2014 Reform

The constitutional reform of telecommunications approved in 2013 offered a historic opportunity to fix and restructure Mexico's anemic telecommunications sector. While the original reform initiative seemed to address key problems at the root of the dysfunctional system, the secondary laws have been widely criticized by public policy experts and human rights advocates. Beyond issues regarding freedom of speech, the controversy around this reform exposed other equally unacceptable realities of the new telecom sector in Mexico. Concerns focus on whether the new laws and policies will have a strong positive social impact or whether they are designed for the benefit of a minority of investors and will ultimately detract from the public welfare. This paper has three major parts. First, it compares the telecommunications sector in Mexico to that of other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Latin American countries. Second, it discusses how telecom reform addresses some of the root causes of the sector's inefficiency, but fails in delivering the solutions outlined in the original reform objectives. Finally, it concludes that the execution of the proposed changes will be crucial for the ultimate success or failure of this constitutional reform.