Improving the Efficiency of the Telecommunication Sector

Telecommunication is an important driver of productivity and growth. Reforms in this area are critical for Mexico’s growth potential to be realised, and to improve competitiveness and livings standards. Inefficient telecommunication markets impose a significant cost on the Mexican economy and on the welfare of the population. Although some progress has been made in recent years through regulatory reform, that progress has been insufficient a number of measures are still needed to ensure that effective competition develops in telecommunication markets. The OECD Review of Telecommunication Policy and Regulation in Mexico (January 2012) put forward a number of recommendations for reform and, partly as a response to the review, Mexican authorities have indeed embarked on some of these reforms. In its inaugural Message to Nation, President Enrique Peña Nieto announced the decision to promote greater competition in the sector, which was formally included in the Pact for Mexico in a number of commitments to improve efficiency in the telecommunications sector that are fully compatible with the recommendations put forward in the OECD Review.