Official questions Cofetel

Mexico's finance minister Francisco Gil Díaz has openly questioned the effectiveness of telecoms regulator Cofetel in a letter to President Vicente Fox, local daily Reforma reported. "Under the new rules, to keep a weak Cofetel without the necessary tools to force competition into the sector does not seem justifiable. Cofetel only should remain if it can be strengthened," Gil reportedly wrote in the letter to Fox. Gil went on to question the relationship between Mexico's communications and transport ministry (SCT) and Cofetel and said it was unclear how operating functions would be transferred between the two agencies under new legal regulations. "From an administrative efficiency and budgetary standpoint, it is necessary to question whether they exist in similar forms," Gil added. The telecoms regulator should not be deprived of the abilities to administer wireless spectrum allocation and license frequency bands because it is against international practices, according to Gil. The minister advocates a grouping of regulations, licensing and oversight in a single authority.