Mexico. The Federal Institute of Telecommunications, 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 Mobile Broadband Service can be provided with fifth generation technologies, 5G.
This action makes Mexico the first country in the world to completely liberate this frequency band.
The migration of these channels will make it possible, on the one hand, to optimize the use of the spectrum previously allocated to the broadcasting service and, on the other, to favor the grouping of channels below channel 37 (608-614 MHz), which is consistent with the provisions of the Work Program to Reorganize the Radio Spectrum to Radio and Television Stations, contained in the National Radio Spectrum Program.
In addition, it aligns with the spectrum planning work carried out by the IFT, as well as with the standardization of the frequency arrangement for the 600 MHz band proposed by the Institute to the International Telecommunication 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 analog blackout in 2015, 151 channels were still operating in the 600 MHz band. To date, 103 have already migrated or are in administrative process of doing so and 48 correspond to the newly relocated.
In this migration process, 10 concessionaires for commercial use, 14 for public use and 2 for social use will be involved.
The migration approved by the IFT Plenary will allow digital television channels to continue operating in UHF, but on a channel below 37, in order to reduce costs for concessionaires and reduce execution times for channel change.
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