Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto presented on Monday, March 11 a proposal to reform the telecommunications law with the intention of putting an end to the open television duopoly and putting and broaden competition in the sector, according to the Associated Press.
The proposal includes creating two new open TV channels with national reach, allow foreign investment in radio and television of up to 49 percent, and create a independent regulating commission to sanction and break down monopolies. The proposal would also force TV stations to provide free programming to cable operators; in turn, cable operators would be required to broadcast every open television channel through their services.
The leader of opposition party PRD, Jesús Zambrano, said he supports the proposal because the Mexican state would recover its leadership in the radio electric spectrum, promote competition and fight monopolies in the sector, according to an interview with CNN México.
Currently, TV giant Televisa controls 70 percent of open television broadcasts in Mexico and 60 percent in cable services, AFP reported.
The proposal establishes that no single company will have more than a 50 percent participation in the media and telecommunications market to guarantee low tariffs and better services, Reuters said. The project was sent to the Chamber of deputies and has the support of the three main political parties.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
