Mexico and Colombia are moving to formalize deeper regulatory coordination in telecommunications, linking a new bilateral cooperation agenda with Mexico’s ongoing push to redesign spectrum policy for industrial connectivity and 5G deployment.
According to a recent press release from Colombia’s Communications Regulation Commission (CRC), Colombia and Mexico signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in communications regulation. CRC says the agreement activates a technical cooperation agenda built around knowledge-sharing and innovation between the two regulators.
The agreement comes as Mexico’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT) has been publicly advancing consultations on how to allocate spectrum for industrial connectivity, fixed wireless/microwave services), and 5G under its 2026 licensing strategy. In a Jan. 21, 2026 government press release, the CRT said it was using a second dialogue table with industry to review international access models for spectrum used in industrial connectivity.
While the full text of the MoU was not accessible at the time of writing, public summaries indicate the CRC-CRT partnership is positioned as a regulatory cooperation mechanism, not just a ceremonial agreement. CRC’s public communication describes it as a way to consolidate collaboration and strengthen communications governance through a high-level technical agenda.
Social-media snippets and search previews linked to the announcement also suggest the cooperation scope includes priority topics such as 5G, AI, cybersecurity and user/consumer protection, areas that increasingly overlap as telecom regulators move beyond legacy voice-and-data oversight into digital ecosystem governance.
Mexico’s CRT has been conducting sector dialogues ahead of its 2026 spectrum plan, aiming to gather input from operators, industry users, and other stakeholders on how spectrum assignments can better support productive use cases, including industrial networks. The CRT’s Jan. 2026 communications frame this effort as part of a broader attempt to spur interest in spectrum use for industrial connectivity and support the design of future auctions.
The CRT’s 2026 spectrum agenda indicates the regulator is contemplating multiple licensing tracks this year, including industrial networks, microwave services, and mobile broadband/5G. Coverage in Mexican media also highlights a stronger emphasis on economic productivity and flexible access models, particularly for industrial use cases that may not fit traditional nationwide mobile auction structures.
As Mexico weighs technical and operational conditions for spectrum access in industrial environments, cross-country exchanges can provide benchmarks on band use, licensing formats, interference management, deployment rules and business-case viability for private or dedicated networks. The CRT says its January dialogue drew on international examples from the European Union, Latin America, and the United States to analyze optimal technical and operational conditions and support international harmonization in this spectrum use.
The collaboration with Colombia’s CRC could support comparative learning in at least three areas:
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5G policy design and deployment oversight, including regulatory frameworks that balance investment incentives with competition and service quality
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Digital risk governance, where telecom regulation increasingly intersects with cybersecurity and AI-related issues
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Consumer and user protections, especially as connectivity services become more integrated with digital platforms, enterprise systems, and critical operations
