Mexico. In the framework of the celebration of the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples, the Federal Institute of Telecommunications, IFT, shared some relevant data on the work it does in favor of the indigenous peoples and communities of the country.
The Federal Law on Telecommunications and Broadcasting (LFTyR) states that the purpose of indigenous concessions shall be the promotion, development and preservation of their languages, culture, knowledge by promoting their traditions, internal norms and principles that respect gender equality, allowing the integration of indigenous women in participation in the economic and social life of the community and other elements that constitute the vision of their reality and culture. starting from indigenous identities.
The LFTyR establishes that the granting of social, community or indigenous concessions is given by direct allocation, following times and criteria established by the IFT in its Annual Frequency Band Program (PABF). In this sense, during this year two deadlines were established for the receipt of applications for concessions, the first occurred from May 6 to 17, and the second contemplated from September 30 to October 11.
During the first period established in the PABF, 169 applications were received, of which 17 are for indigenous use, 63 for community use and 89 for social use.
Prior to the first application period, the IFT launched an advisory program in the states (ProRadio), where it provided attention to 161 interested parties in Campeche, Chiapas, Michoacán and Oaxaca, including members of Indigenous communities and their authorities; community radio organizations that bring together various radio stations (community and indigenous); and received 53 concession applications in the 4 temporary windows that it installed in localities in those states.
The 53 applications received in the states represent 31.3% of the total of 169 applications received in the first period of the PABF 2019.
For the second stage of the ProRadio program, it is planned to carry out consultancies and receipt of documents in the states of Querétaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Veracruz and Tabasco, during September and October of this year.
Since the creation of the IFT to date, 10 radio concessions have been granted for indigenous social use to use and take advantage of frequency bands of the radio spectrum, to provide service in Chiapas, Morelia, Oaxaca, Puebla, Guerrero and Veracruz. Additionally, the Institute granted Telecomunicaciones Indígenas Comunitarios, A.C., a single concession and a concession for the use of radio spectrum to provide telecommunications services in various municipalities in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla and Veracruz.
It should be noted that certain community concessions granted by the IFT have presented projects in which they share the purposes of an indigenous concession, this because of the thematic and social orientation based on multiculturalism that exists in their community and that the combination of both purposes promotes the development of their region by making effective the rights of access to communication and information.
It is important to mention that the Federal Law of Rights establishes that, for applicants for a concession for indigenous use, the processing and obtaining of the title has no cost, which on the one hand eliminates the economic factor as a barrier to access to the media and on the other hand seeks to encourage the growth of the number of radio stations with these characteristics in the Mexican Republic.
Since 2017, the IFT has allocated one percent of its social communication budget for advertising to concessionaires for social, community and indigenous use, in order to contribute to the sustainability of these media. The Institute was the first entity of the Federal Public Administration to grant this budget item in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Law on Telecommunications and Broadcasting.
On the other hand, to promote the empowerment and literacy of users of telecommunications services, the IFT, hand in hand with the National Institute of Indigenous Languages, will participate this year in the "Fair of National Indigenous Languages 2019 - Ni Una Lengua Menos", giving a conversation entitled "Rights of Users", and will have a module in which various dynamics and games focused on informing attendees about the rights they have as end users and information materials that have been translated into nine indigenous languages will be delivered.
On August 9, 2018, it presented the Diagnosis of Guaranteed Coverage of the mobile service in 66 indigenous peoples identified in our country and released various information materials aimed at users, which were translated into 9 languages.
In addition, it launched the microsite Indigenous Communities and Peoples, in which you can find important information related to the processing of broadcasting concessions for social, community and indigenous use.
During April 2018, the Institute held the First Meeting on "Sustainability of Community and Indigenous Social Networks and Media", whose purpose was to bring together recognized experts on issues related to the operation and sustainability of community and indigenous social concessions with the aim of generating a space to promote dialogue and the search for feasible solutions to the different obstacles and problems faced by social networks and media. community and indigenous.
In 2017, the IFT organized the International Forum on Indigenous and Community Media, which aimed for various actors involved in decision-making and the development of the broadcasting sector at the national and international level, to share experiences, learnings and visions on the use, and construction of their own media.
On the other hand, during 2015, the IFT and the then National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples signed a Framework Collaboration Agreement between the two institutions so that, within the scope of their powers, they could plan and implement coordination actions and mechanisms to promote and facilitate the granting of concessions for social use to indigenous peoples and communities. With regard to the creation of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, work is being done on a new collaboration agreement between the two institutions.
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