Mexico needs to clear up rules for telecoms infra construction

The lack of clear and unified rules for the construction of telecoms-related infrastructure in Mexico at the municipal level is one reason why the country still lacks the tools to provide universal access to telecommunications, telecom lawyers group IDET said in a statement.

Each of the country's 2,457 municipalities compounds the problem because they have the right to draft their own construction regulations and permits within Mexico's federal system.

"Mexico is still a long way from having the needed infrastructure to allow all Mexicans... access to modern telecommunications services," IDET said. "Telecom sector companies require a regulatory framework allowing them to deploy infrastructure in the shortest possible time, under clear rules," it added.

Article 5 of the telecoms law establishes that civil works related to telecommunications and broadcasting fall under federal jurisdiction. But article 115 of the constitution allows every municipality to create its own rules for construction permits and land use regulations. "In fact, the local sphere determines if a tower or pole can be installed."

Companies frequently complain that deploying one radio base might require a certain set of requirements in one area, while a few hundred meters away a different local government will demand completely different permits, making it more expensive and inefficient to build infrastructure. Moreover, local governments have no incentive to make the process easier because they don't benefit from telecom companies' taxes or tariffs.

"Besides," the IDET added, "the opacity of the rules and the discretion in their enforcement opens the door to using permits and licenses as a tool to promote acts of corruption."

The country's telecoms regulator IFT and the communications and transport ministry need to keep analyzing barriers to infrastructure deployment and respond with facilitating policies, such as leasing space in public buildings to carriers, IDET said.