- The Plenary of the IFT approves the migration of 48 digital television channels operating between the frequencies 614 MHz and up to 698 MHz.
- The release of this band will allow the spectrum to be used to offer fifth generation (5G) mobile broadband services.
The Plenary of the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) approved the relocation of 48 digital television channels in the 600 MHz band (614 MHz to 698 MHz) to make way for a second digital dividend in the country in which the digital dividend can be provided. Mobile Broadband Service with fifth generation technologies (5G).
This action makes Mexico the first country in the world to fully release this frequency band.
The migration of these channels will allow, on the one hand, to optimize the use of the spectrum previously attributed to the broadcasting service and, on the other, to favor the grouping of channels below channel 37 (608-614 MHz), which is consistent with what is established in the Program of Work to Reorganize the Radioelectric Spectrum to Radio and Television Stations, contained in the National Radioelectric Spectrum Program.
In addition, it is aligned with the tasks of spectrum planning carried out by the IFT, as well as with the standardization of the frequency arrangement for the 600 MHz band proposed by the Institute before the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
This arrangement has been adopted by countries such as the United States, Canada and New Zealand, among others, and is supported by Colombia and the regional organization known as the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT).
It is important to mention that, after the analogue switch-off in 2015, 151 channels were still operating in the 600 MHz band. To date, 103 have already migrated or are in administrative channels to do so and 48 correspond to the newly relocated ones.
In this process of migration will be involved 10 concessionaires for commercial use, 14 for public use and 2 for social use.
The migration approved by the IFT Plenary will allow digital TV channels to continue operating in UHF, but in a channel below 37, in order to reduce costs for dealers and reduce the execution times for the channel change.