Injecting Competition in Broadcasting through MCMO Regulations : Some Recommendations for Mexico

The new telecommunications regulator in Mexico, Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT), recently issued a public consultation on its draft regulation for must carry and must offer (MCMO) conditions in the broadcasting sector. This, together with the recent Constitutional reforms on Telecommunications and Broadcasting, represents an unprecedented opportunity to instill the sector with much needed competition. The new regulatory effort in Mexico allows for a comparison of the current state of regulation relative to other economies. We take the cases of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the European Union (Ireland and the UK), India, Peru, and the US, as illustrative of the different factors that lead to the decision to design and apply MCMO regulation. We conclude with an attempt at deriving best practices in the application and enforcement of MCMO regulation worldwide that may be useful to consider in Mexico