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MEXICO

"...Ruiz Vega sostuvo que 'un regulador que regula por regular, es un mal regulador', al igual que 'un regulador que no aspira en un futuro a que su existencia deje de ser necesaria'..."

(...Ruiz Vega maintained that 'a regulator who regulates to regulate is a bad regulator', like 'a regulator who does not aspire to a future in which his existence will not be necessary'...)

---"Reglas simples en lugar de regulación innecesaria: Ruiz Vega El comisionado de COFETEL participa en la 13 Conferencia Anual de la GIIC," (Simple rules instead of unnecessary regulation: COFETEL Commissioner Ruiz Vega participates in the 13th Annual Conference of the GIIC), COFETEL press release, 12 April 2007, in Spanish.

• "...en los años 1995, 1996 y 1998 fueron publicados acuerdos por los que se establecen bandas de frecuencias del espectro radioeléctrico de uso libre; y se fomentó el desarrollo de nuevas aplicaciones tecnológicas inalámbricas..." (in 1995, 1996 and 1998 accords were published to establish radio frequency bands of free use; and that encouraged development of new wireless technology applications) ---Programa Sectorial de Comunicaciones y Transportes 2001-2006, Government of Mexico, 2001, page 212.
• Article 10 of the Law on Telecommunication (1995, with amendments) authorizes the classification of certain frequency bands as being for "free use subject to technical conditions" - that is, for use by the general public without a license, concession, permission or registration but in conformance with technical rules of operation.
• "Licensing Practices of Information and Communication Technology Services in Mexico," COFETEL, 2004.
• "Mexico's Family Radio Service (FRS) equivalent," by Patrick Stoddard: 462/467 MHz.
• "Acuerdo por el que se establece la política para servicios de banda ancha v otras aplicaciones en las bandas de frecuencias del espectro radioeléctrico 902 a 928 MHz; 2,400 a 2,483.5 MHz; 3,600 a 3,700 MHz; 5,150 a 5,250 MHz; 5,250 a 5,350 MHz; 5,470 a 5,725 MHz; y 5,725 a 5,850 MHz," (Accord for establishing the policy on broadband services and other applications in the freqency bands...). Click here for the final draft of the accord between COFETEL and SCT as published in Diario Oficial de la Federación, 13 Marzo 2006, page 38). This formally de-licensed WiFi.
• Mexico's first city-wide Wi-Fi net deployed, Tropos Networks press release, 4 October 2007: "...the Sonora Institute of Technology (ITSON) Public University is deploying a multi-user, multi-application Wi-Fi network covering 23 square miles of Obregon, Mexico located in the State of Sonora, bordering California and Arizona..."
• "Mexico City to be one giant Wi-Fi hotspot by 2008: mayor," Agence France Presse (via Yahoo), 3 April 2007.
• "Resolucion por medio de la cual la Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones expide las condiciones técnicas de operación de la banda 5 725 a 5 850 MHz, para su utilización como banda de uso libre," Diario Oficial de la Federación, 14 April 2006, page 25. Further details on the 5.8 GHz "free use" band.
• "Constitucional, pago de derechos por el uso de frecuencias del espectro radioeléctrico: SCJN," [Mexico's Supreme Court says frequency use charges are constitutional] by Jesús Aranda, La Jornado (in Spanish). Translated excerpts: The Supreme Court established that the payment of royalties for use of the radio frequency spectrum is constitutional, and differences in the concessionaires' benefits or in the cost of exploiting radio bands by frequency or geographic region do not affect the legality.
• "The Internet and E-Commerce Market in Mexico - Industry Sector Analysis" by Martha Sanchez, US Department of State (Foriegn Commercial Service), July 2004:

  "...Wi-Fi technology was introduced in Mexico during the first semester of 2002... Telmex has installed 300 Wi-Fi hotspots in retail stores such as Sanborns, bookstores, hotels, airports, etc... Although Wi-Fi technologies are mainly used [in] public places, the market is gradually reaching the home sector... The National Chamber of the Electronics and Telecommunications Industry (CANIETI - Camara Nacional de la Industria Electrónica, de Telecomunicacion e Informática) considers that Wi-Fi will work depending on the quality of service provided to support this technology because it uses the open spectrum... Currently, the use of Wi-Fi and Wi-Max technologies is not regulated [sic]; one of the most sensitive issue is if Wi-Max will use the open spectrum...

  "The entry of the new wireless internet access technologies has surpassed the existing regulation, Canieti and Anatel are working together with the Ministry of Communications and Transportations to determine the appropriate regulation to avoid overloading the spectrum. The Ministry of Communications and Transportations realizes that the new technologies open new opportunities in the use of the 2.4 and 5 Ghz radio frequencies and acknowledges that the current Federal Telecommunications Law does not include all technical and legal aspects to allow the development of new wireless technologies..."

• "Resolución del Pleno de la Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones para Clasificar ciertas Bandas de Frecuencias conforme a la Ley Federal de Telecomunicaciones" (Resolution of the Plenary session of the Federal Telecommunications Commission to classify certain Frequency Bands according to the Federal Law of Telecommunications), COFETEL, 22 July 2005, in Spanish. This 50-page draft proposed the unlicensed use of frequencies for communication in the 902-928, 2400-2483.5, 5.150-5.350 and 5.725-5.850 MHz ranges. Most of these bands had previously been allocated to unlicensed ISM devices. This proposal was rejected by the Secretariat for Communication and Transport (SCT) because it included band sharing between licensed and unlicensed networkst at 5.725-5.850 GHz.
• "Wi-Fi en México. Por fin." (Wi-Fi in Mexico. Finally.) by Javier Lozano, El Universal Online, 8 August 2005. About the COFETEL Resolution of 22 July.
• "Mexico: 5.8 GHz dispute interferes with WiFi reform" by Robert Horvitz, openspectrum.info, 16 November 2005: SCT blocked the gazetting of COFETEL's new rules for WiFi because of differences over use of the 5.725-5.850 GHz band. COFETEL proposed that this band could be used without a license for data networking at power levels below 4 watts, and at higher powers with a license. In August SCT overruled COFETEL, saying the 5.8 GHz band should be for licensed use only. They argue that Mexico's Law on Telecommunication says in Article 10 that frequency bands are to be classified as either reserved for licensed use or open for free use. Band-sharing between licensed and unlicensed users is apparently not an option, and liberalization of WiFi rules in the 2.4 GHz is a hostage to this dispute.
• "Wi-Fi and Wi-Max: Rural Mexico's Last Train to Development" by Adriana Labardini, Government Technology News, 17 February 2005. This article by a former secretary of the Board of the Mexican Federal Telecommunications Commission argues that COFETEL's current restrictions on unlicensed Wi-fi are not based on an accurate interpretation of law, and in any case they are increasingly ignored as hotspots spread in hotels, restaurants and even in government buildings.
• At the ITU's Global Regulators Symposium in December 2004, the Director General of Mexico's Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones said it is important to: "Facilitar el uso de ciertas bandas frecuencia para poder proporcionar el servicio de acceso a Internet sin necesidad de obtener una licencia" (to facilitate the use of certain frequency bands in order to provide the service of access to Internet with no need to obtain a license).
• Mexico's Table of Frequency Allocations - complete details and good graphics.
• Despite COFETEL's position that new regulations were needed to legalize spread spectrum communication in the ISM bands, footnote MEX.130 in the CITEL regional frequency plan states that spread spectrum use of 902-928 MHz, 2.450-2.4835 MHz and 5.725-5.850 MHz was authorized by "la Norma Oficial Mexicana Emergente, NOM-EM-121-SCT1-1994," published on 22 December 1994 in Diario Oficial de la Federación. Footnote MEX.152 says that 2.300-2.450 MHz is to be shared by 64kb/s multipoint digital systems in urban areas and digital radiotelephony in rural areas. However, footnote MEX.153 limits the use of the latter band near the border with the United States.
• RedLibre (FreeNet)
• México Wireless - community networks.
• "UWB, conexión inalámbrica veloz," by Cuauhtemoc Valdiosera R., La Jornada, 18 May 2006, in Spanish.
• [Radios without permission - a national phenomenon] by Gabriel Sosa Plata, El Universal, 28 June 2011 in Spanish. Translated excerpts: according to government data, as of December 2010 the number of unlicensed radio stations broadcasting in each state of Mexico are: Chiapas (77), Oaxaca (66), Guerrero (5), State of Mexico (4), Michoacán(3), Federal District (3), Coahuila (2), Sonora(2), Veracruz (2), Chihuahua (1), Puebla (1). The federal government is afraid to intervene in Chiapas and Oaxaca because these areas had violent uprisings in the past which aimed at secession. But most illegal broadcasters air evangelical religious programming which does not threaten public security. The owners say they operate illegally because Mexican law does not permit community broadcasting (only commercial or no-advertising stations are allowed) and religious organizations are not allowed to own radio stations.

Latin America & Caribbean - Regional Overview