The telecom/cellular and safety are updated in Mexico. The 2G spectrum will be switched off in the coming months, with the spectrum being repurposed.

Standards Updates

Officially in force now is the new Mexican Official Standard, NOM-221-SCFI-2017 (IFT-011-2017 - Parte 1), is replacing the older standard DT-IFT-011-PART 1 (IMEI). NOM-221-SCFI-2017 is applicable to mobile terminal equipment IMEI registration.

There is no new test procedure that goes along with the standard, it simply references Disposición Técnica IFT-011-2017 (Part 1). Current certificates are valid; however, products will need to follow the new standard should they be modified.

The standard DT-IFT-011-PART 2 for cellular bands remains the same.

New testing criteria is imminent for NOM safety certifications in 2019. NOM-019-SCFI-2017 will be replacing the previous version dated 1998 and also expands its field of application to include what has been covered under NOM-016-SCFI. Final decision has not been announced, and the documents, though already approved by the National Standardization Advisory Committee, are still pending publication by the legal department of the Dirección General de Normas (DGN).

There is a similar process concurrently with NOM-001-SCFI-2017

The actual date that this will be in force depends on the publications in the Diario Oficial de la Federación (DOF).

2G Switch Off

Mexico states they are planning to switch off 2G mobile services as early as April of this year. 2G services are used by less than 1 percent of the 17 million subscribers of operators. This allows reallocation of the spectrum towards supporting the existing 4G LTE network and to increase the capacity of the existing 4G network. In fact the US firm said data traffic has surged by more than 240 percent since the start of 2017.

In the United States, 2G cellular service has been discontinued since January 1, 2017.