Communications In Mexico
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Mass media in Mexico are regulated by the Secretariat of Communication and Transportation (''Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes or SCT''), a federal
executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...
cabinet ministry and by the
Federal Telecommunications Institute The Federal Telecommunications Institute (Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones''; abbreviated as IFT and incorrectly referred to as IFETEL, Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Snaul jtsob a’telelil Sk’asesojibal k’o ...
(''Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones or IFT'').
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
's communication services market is among the largest in
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, liberalized in the 1990s, with the landmark privatization of Teléfonos de México (
Telmex Teléfonos de México, S.A.B. de C.V., known as Telmex is a Mexican telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunications products and services in Mexico. In 2014, Telmex was the dominant fixed-line phone carri ...
), a previously state-owned monopoly. Since then, new operators have entered the market, but Telmex remains the dominant player.


Regulation

Founded on 13 May 1891, as the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works, the SCT is divided into three subsecretariats: the Subsecretariat of Infrastructure, the Subsecretariat of Communications and the Subsecretariat of Transportation. The SCT has ceded many of its regulatory functions to the
Federal Telecommunications Institute The Federal Telecommunications Institute (Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones''; abbreviated as IFT and incorrectly referred to as IFETEL, Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Snaul jtsob a’telelil Sk’asesojibal k’o ...
.


Radio and television

Usage of radio, television and Internet in Mexico nowadays is prevalent.Mexico Infrastructure, power and Communications
National Economies Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 13 January 2007
The first television transmission in Mexico was conducted by Javier Stavoli in 1931. Guillermo González Camarena built his own monochromatic camera in 1934, and in 1940 he developed the first trichromatic system and obtained the first patent for color television in the world.Mexico
The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Accessed on 24 February 2007
After developing radio and television stations, in 1948, he built the studio Gon-Cam, which was considered the best television system in the world in the time, according to survey conducted by the Columbia College of Chicago. With the passage of the century, the television broadcasting market became dominated by two powerful companies,
Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...
—the largest Spanish media company in the Spanish-speaking world — and
TV Azteca Televisión Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V., commonly known as TV Azteca, is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate owned by Grupo Salinas. It is the second-largest mass media company in Mexico after Televisa. It primarily competes with Televisa as well as so ...
, even though several dozen regional networks operate in the country. In addition, many states have their own television networks, and public television has increased its market penetration in recent years. In 2014 there were 1,762 radio stations and 1,063 separately licensed analog and digital television stations.


Telephone and Internet

In general, the telecommunications industry is mostly dominated by
Telmex Teléfonos de México, S.A.B. de C.V., known as Telmex is a Mexican telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunications products and services in Mexico. In 2014, Telmex was the dominant fixed-line phone carri ...
(''Teléfonos de México'') and
América Móvil América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. is a Mexican telecommunications corporation headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the 7th largest mobile network operator in the world in terms of equity subscribers, as well as one of the largest corpor ...
. The telecommunications industry was privatized in 1990 under the control of
Grupo Carso Grupo Carso S.A.B. de C.V. is a Mexican global conglomerate company owned by Carlos Slim. It was formed in 1990 after the merger of Corporación Industrial Carso and Grupo Inbursa. The name Carso stands for Carlos Slim and Soumaya Domit de Slim ...
and since 1996 under
Carlos Slim Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business oligarch, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by ''Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from his e ...
. Telmex has diversified its operations by incorporating
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
service and
mobile telephony Mobile telephony is the provision of wireless telephone services to mobile phones, distinguishing it from fixed-location telephony provided via landline phones. Traditionally, telephony specifically refers to voice communication, though th ...
. It has also expanded its operations to
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
,
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
,
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
,
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Due to Mexican diverse
orography Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology,'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader disci ...
—the country is crossed by two high altitude mountain ranges extending from the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...
—providing landline telephone service at remote mountainous areas is expensive, and penetration of line-phones per capita is low compared to other
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
n countries, with 20 million lines.Communications
Mexico. CIA Factbook.
Mobile telephony has the advantage of reaching all areas at a lower cost, due to reduced investments in required infrastructure, and the total number of mobile lines in Mexico is nearly five times that of landlines, with an estimated 95 million lines. The telecommunications industry is regulated by the government through the
Federal Telecommunications Institute The Federal Telecommunications Institute (Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones''; abbreviated as IFT and incorrectly referred to as IFETEL, Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Snaul jtsob a’telelil Sk’asesojibal k’o ...
(IFT, ''Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones''). In April 2009, the
ITESM Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM; ), also known as Technological Institute of Monterrey () or just Tec, is aresearch university based in Monterrey, Mexico, which has grown to include 35 campuses located across 25 cit ...
(''Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey'') reported 25,217,500 users; 78% of personal computer Internet access is
broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...
access., ranking ninth in the world. November 2019, Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica signed a deal to use some of AT&T's infrastructure in Mexico.


Satellite communications

The satellite system is domestic with 120 earth stations. There is also extensive microwave radio relay network and considerable use of fiber-optic and coaxial cable. Mexican satellites are operated by ''Satélites Mexicanos'' ( Satmex), a leading private company in Latin America which services both North and South America. Satmex offers broadcast, telephone, and telecommunication services to 37 countries in the
Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
, from
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
to
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. Through business partnerships, Satmex provides high-speed connectivity to ISPs and Digital Broadcast Services.Mexican Operator Satmex Has Chosen Arianespace to Launch Its New Satmex 6 Satellite
14 February 2002. Spaceref.com. Accessed on 24 January 2007
The system is currently composed of three main satellites: Solidaridad 2, Satmex 5 and Satmex 6. The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation is also in the process of deploying the Mexican Satellite System (MEXSAT), but a launch failure has postponed the project.


See also

* Transportation in Mexico *
Economy of Mexico The economy of Mexico is a developing mixed-market economy. It is the 13th largest in the world in nominal GDP terms and by purchasing power parity as of 2024. Since the 1994 crisis, administrations have improved the country's macroeconomi ...


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Telecommunications In Mexico
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...