Calderon's plan to digitalize Mexican TV hits bump

MEXICO CITY Oct 21 (Reuters) - Mexico's Supreme Court will hear a constitutional challenge to President Felipe Calderon's plan to digitalize television brought by opposition members of Congress, who argue companies may not be ready for the transition on time.

Calderon announced last month he wanted to fully migrate analog television to digital standards by 2015, six years earlier than originally planned, in a move that would require big money from media companies to upgrade their systems.

Digital television uses less bandwidth allowing a larger number of channels to be packed into a signal. It is also good for high-definition TV, with better picture and sound quality, and can bundle other non-television services.

The digitalization would free up spectrum for wireless communications, including 4G standard, allowing the government to auction more frequency.

The government will have 10 days from Thursday to defend its plan before the Supreme Court, a court source told Reuters. Mexico's presidential office and the communications and transport ministry had no immediate comment.

Since taking office in 2006, Calderon has tried to boost competition in the telecommunications market, currently dominated by a handful of tightly-knit family companies.

A recent effort aimed at bringing new mobile phone players to the field has been complicated by the collapse of the joint venture between Televisa (TV.N) (TLVACPO.MX) and mobile operator Nextel (NIHD.O) amid legal challenges to the licensing process that granted the venture its spectrum. (Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz; editing by Andre Grenon)