Introduction to the Comisión Reguladora de Telecomunicaciones (CRT)
The establishment of the Comisión Reguladora de Telecomunicaciones (CRT), a subsidiary body of the Agencia de Transformación Digital y Comunicaciones, presents an opportunity to reshape telecommunications and broadcasting regulation with the goal of achieving universal, meaningful, and innovative digital inclusion in Mexico. However, it also risks repeating past mistakes.
Institutional Design Lessons from Cofetel and IFT
1. Independence is Crucial for Credible Technical Decisions
The CRT must learn from the historical operation of the extinct Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel), which allowed strong political influences, eroding its technical capacity and legitimacy in the eyes of market actors. To avoid this, the CRT should implement safeguards against political direction changes and prioritize technical stability in mandates, appointments, and removals over political convenience.
2. Evidence-Based Decision Making
The Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT) made progress in normative advances and technical tools that promoted competition and transparency. However, it faced criticism for an opportunistic narrative that failed to address issues like dominance in pay TV or outdated competitive analysis, weakening its ability to make data-driven decisions.
The CRT should embrace a culture of empirical evidence, including public consultations, clear indicators, access to historical and recent data, public methodologies, and constant evaluations. This will ensure that its decisions withstand public scrutiny, legal challenges, and political reinterpretation.
3. Avoid Regulatory Overreach Without Clear Diagnostics
Market adjustments are legitimate when there are documented failures, but they can be destructive if done indiscriminately or without considering the impacts and costs of regulation.
The IFT’s experience shows that excessive and interventionist regulations, like dominance, generate litigation, regulatory laziness, uncertainty, and most importantly, discourage investment and digital advancement. The CRT should be predictable through public consultations, clear rules, reasonable processing times, dialogue mechanisms, and technical resources to help businesses understand compliance requirements.
4. Meaningful Engagement with Society and Markets
The Cofetel was criticized for operating as a closed box of technical decisions disconnected from the ecosystem (operators, academia, civil society, and users). If the CRT reproduces this social and industrial distance, it will be perceived as arrogant and detached from real connectivity and industrial problems.
Significant public participation through transparent consultations and forums with industry representatives, users, and other sectors should be routine, not an exception. Interaction with the press, academia, and presence in forums strengthens internal capabilities, best practices, and legitimizes complex decisions.
5. Prioritize Private and Public Investment
The best regulation does not restrict but rather creates conditions for growth: legal certainty, stable and predictable rules of the game, incentive schemes for fiber and spectrum deployment, and regulatory models that enable innovation.
The CRT should avoid creating bureaucratic bottlenecks that increase project costs or delay deployments. Instead, it should design streamlined routes for public-private collaboration that accelerate coverage, digitalization, and innovation.
6. International Participation and Continuous Learning
The global regulatory community’s experience offers lessons and standards that enhance the technical quality of decisions. Isolation is a serious mistake as it diminishes the capacity to converse, compare, validate methodologies, and adopt best practices.
The CRT needs to rebuild cooperation networks and actively participate in multilateral forums to stay at the forefront.
Key Questions and Answers
- Q: What is the main goal of the CRT? A: To reshape telecommunications and broadcasting regulation for universal, meaningful, and innovative digital inclusion in Mexico.
- Q: Why is independence crucial for the CRT? A: Independence ensures credible technical decisions, avoiding political influences that erode the CRT’s capacity and legitimacy.
- Q: How should the CRT make decisions? A: By embracing a culture of empirical evidence, public consultations, clear indicators, access to data, and constant evaluations.
- Q: What should the CRT avoid regarding regulation? A: The CRT should avoid regulatory overreach without clear diagnostics, which can lead to litigation, uncertainty, and discourage investment.
- Q: How should the CRT engage with society and markets? A: Through significant public participation, transparent consultations, and interactions with industry representatives, users, academia, and the press.
- Q: What should be a priority for the CRT? A: Fostering private and public investment by creating conditions for growth, such as legal certainty, stable rules, incentive schemes, and regulatory models that enable innovation.
- Q: Why is international participation important for the CRT? A: International engagement allows the CRT to learn from global regulatory experiences, validate methodologies, and adopt best practices.
