For years, Telecomunicaciones Indígenas Comunitarias A.C. (TIC AC), Mexico s fourth largest cell phone operator, has been fighting to provide telecommunications services to the most disadvantaged people in Mexico, specifically the 18 Indigenous communities that form part of it. Now TIC AC, backed by Rhizomatica and Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad A.C., organisations that help communities build and manage their own low-cost, open-source communications infrastructure, is celebrating a historic victory: exemption from paying fees for the use of radio spectrum.
Since 2016, when they won their first radio spectrum concession, these non-profit organisations have faced various obstacles as well as discrimination. Had it not been for the tenacity they have shown in court, the process would not have resulted in this victory, says Carlos Rey-Moreno, local access policy and regulation coordinator for APC’s community networks project. There were moments that seemed insu
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Translations
TIC design. Used with permission.
On January 13, after a nearly three-year legal battle, the First Chamber of Mexico s Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Indigenous Community Telecommunications (Telecomunicaciones Indígenas Comunitarias, TIC) organization
, exempting them from paying for a concession license to use radio spectrum.
This decision allows TIC to offer affordable cell phone services to indigenous communities in the country. The court case also set a legal precedent for local communities to operate their own telecommunications services for free under social use concession licenses drawing a line between commercial and community providers.
¡Excelentes noticias! Con una votación unánime se emitió una sentencia favorable a TIC A.C. y en general al sector de las #telecomunicaciones protegiéndose los #derechosíndigenas para la operación de medios de comunicación propios. ¡Un logro de las comunidades y organizaciones! https://t.co/2c