Cofetel, Mexico's telecommunications regulator, expects mobile operators’ revenues to drop temporarily when the calling party pays (CPP) billing system is adjusted in early 2005.

It now costs 2.50 pesos per minute (US$ 0.22) to call a mobile phone from a fixed line. The per minute rate is expected to decline to about 2.25 pesos in 2005, 2.03 pesos in 2006 and 1.82 pesos in 2007, according to Cofetel’s president Jorge Martínez Arredondo.

The mobile operators will see a reduction in their revenues in the short term until increased call volumes in the medium term make up for reduced revenue per minute, according to Arredondo.

"When the rates are reduced, there will be more people calling mobile phones. There will be a certain lag before the traffic has a positive impact and some will be lost at the beginning, but the traffic will grow," Arredondo said.

"What we are looking to do is not end up sacrificing fixed telephony in order to subsidise mobile telephony rates," he added.

Reducing rates for mobile telephony under the CPP scheme is Cofetel's main goal for 2005, Arredondo said. Other plans for 2005 include defining the use of radio spectrum for Wi-Fi and the regulation of VoIP telephony.

Intelecon Research & Consultancy Ltd. 16/12/2004
Source: Business News Americas