Preponderant agent, what is that?
| Autor | Clara Luz Álvarez |
| Cargo | Member of the Mexican National Researchers System (level II) and researcher of the Universidad Panamericana (Mexico). She received the National Journalism Award for spreading democratic culture for its program Código Democracia at the Congress Channel (2014). Clara Luz is author of the books Derecho de las Telecomunicaciones (3rd ed., 2014) and... |
| Páginas | 13-36 |
Preponderant agent, what is that? (p. 13-36) 13
ALVAREZ, C. L. Preponderant agent, what is that?
The Law, State, and Telecommunications Review
, Brasilia, v. 7, n.
1, p. 13-36, May 2015. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.26512/lstr.v7 i1.21537]
Preponderant agent, what is that?
Submitted
: 01/04/2 015
Clara Luz Álvarez*
Revised
: 17/04/201 5
Accepted
: 22/04/201 5
Abstract
Purpose –
Pre ponderant agent is a new instrume nt for prev enting and reverting adver se
impact in competition due to highly c oncentrated markets. Therefore, this paper's
objective is to present an d analyze the prep onderant agent conce pt in Mexico with
emphasis on the bro adcast sector, the telecomm unication regulator decisi ons and the
courts' interpr etation.
Methodology/appr oach/design –
The objectives were ach ieved by resea rching and
analyzing the main legal documents, the Congress reports and debates, the regulator's
decisions and other relevant regulat or's documents, as well as f inal decisions by the courts
in connection with broadcast sector.
Findings –
Among th e findings are that cer tain topics were not d uly addresse d by the
Mexican regulator, or by the Co ngress, whereas t he courts were more willing to hold
decisions in f avor of public interest base d on constitutional intent and defe rence to the
regulator's de cision.
Originality/value –
This paper will be valuable for persons interested in
telecommunica tions, b roadcast and antitrust. Although the preponderant agent concept
created in Mexico is not nec essarily a “best practice”, it does provide an alternative
instrument in antitrust . Mo reover, the courts decisions also provide criteri a reg arding
regulatory defer ence for the regulator.
Keywords: telecommunica tions, broadcast, antitrust, preponderant, significant m arket
power.
*
Member of the Mexica n Nation al Researche rs System (level II) and res earcher of the
Universidad Panameric ana (M exico). She rece ived th e Nation al Journ alism A ward for
spreading democratic culture for its pro gram Códi go Democra cia a t the Congress
Channel (2014). Clara Luz i s author of the books Derecho de las Telecomunicaciones
(3rd ed., 2014 ) and Internet y De rechos Fundamentale s (2011) , and coordinator of the
book Telecomunicaciones y Tecnología s de la Información (2012). She was rapporte ur
for the International Telecommunications Union 's study group of ICT accessibility for
persons with disab ilities (2006-2011), and Com missioner for the Mexican
Telecommunic ations Commissi on (Cofetel). Email: claraluzalvarez@gmail.com.
Website: www.claraluzalvarez.org.
14
Preponderant agent, what is that? (p. 13-36)
ALVAREZ, C. L. Preponderant agent, what is that?
The Law, State, and Telecommunications Review
, Brasilia, v. 7, n.
1, p. 13-36, May 2015. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.26512 /lstr.v7i1.21537 ]
Introduction
Mexico's telecommunication and broadcast sectors are highly
concentrated in a few corporate groups. This is the result of building a co untry –
after the Me xican Revolution started on 1910 – based on monopolistic interests
on a local, regional and national level (Alvarez, 391).1 Since capital formation
and econo mies of scale were so vital in developing a functional infrastructure,
the governme nt dee med competitio n as against the public interest and licenses
were granted on a discretionary basis (Alvarez, 389-394).
The Mexican 1990s was c haracterized by privatizations and economic
liberalization, and telecommunications were no exception. Privatizations
included the telecom historic operator and public monopoly, Telmex (1990), a
public TV broadcasting network (Imevisión – Channels 7 and 13, 1993), and the
satellite monopoly known as Satmex, in 1997 (Alvarez, 396-400, 407-409). The
Telecommunications Law enacted in 1995 (now repealed) opened the telecom
sector to co mpetition. Increased competition was supposed to improve the
quality of services, increase access and lower prices.
Although two decades have passed since the opening of the Mexican
telecom market, the sector is still dominated by a few powerful players:
▪ Fixed telephony = América Móvil (Telmex): 71% of subscribers.2
▪ Fixed data = América Móvil (Telmex): 60.2% of subscribers.3
▪ Mobile telephony = América Móvil (Telcel): 69% of subscribers.4
▪ Mobile data = América Móvil (Telcel): 68.6% of subscribers.5
▪ Pay TV = Grupo Televisa: 60.1% of subscribers6
▪ Free-to-air T V = Grupo Televisa: 70% (2012)7 average share of
transmissions co mputed from the beginning of the tr ansmission to the
end of it.
1
Example in telecommunicatio ns can be found o n the Ley de Vías Genera les de
Comunicación (1940).
2
Instituto Federal de Telecomunicacion es, Informe estadístico 3 Trimestre 2014,
http://www.ift.org.mx/iftweb/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/InformeEstadisticoVF.pdf, p.
18.
3
Ibidem, p. 23.
4
Ibidem, p. 27.
5
Ibidem, p. 35.
6
Ibidem, p. 38.
7
Instituto Fede ral de Telecomunicac iones, Resolución media nte la cua l el Pleno del
Instituto Feder al de Telecomunica ciones determina al grupo de interés económico del
que forma n parte Grupo Televisa S.A. B., Cana les de Televisión Popu lares, S.A. de C.V.,
Radio Televisión, S.A. de C.V., Radiotelevisora de México Norte, S.A. de C.V., T.V. de los
Mochis, S.A. de C.V., Teleimagen del Noroeste, S.A. de C.V., Televimex. S.A. de C.V.,
Televisión de Puebla , S.A. de C.V., Televisor a de Mexicali, S.A. de C.V., Televisor a de
Navojoa, S.A., Televisora de Occidente, S.A. de C.V., Televisora P eninsular, S.A. de C.V.,
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