The Third Forum on Telecommunications in Rural Areas and Indigenous Communities, held on 24 March 2026 in Puebla, Mexico, has established itself firmly as a space for regional dialogue on community connectivity and communication, bringing together representatives of Mexico’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT) and Telecommunications Investment Promotion Agency (PROMTEL) and experts from international bodies such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL), along with community mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) such as Wiki Katat, which advance locally managed connectivity models.
Discussions during the two plenary sessions on regulations and public policies and collaborative ecosystems for community connectivity in Latin America highlighted the fact that the digital divide does not only involve a technological challenge, it also reveals the need to strengthen coordination processes among diverse actors, recognising the social, cultural and territorial characteristics specific to each community. Work groups also met on the sidelines of the Forum, engaging participants in discussions on such topics as public policies, gender, community communication, digital accessibility and collective care, with the aim of formulating practical recommendations and enhancing knowledge exchanges among the various stakeholders.
Organised by the ITU, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Rhizomatica and Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad A.C. (REDES A.C.), with support from IBERO Puebla, the Forum gathered over 85 people, including community communicators from 14 Latin American countries who participated in Bootcamp 2026, an in-person training initiative organised under the Blended Training Programme for ICT Network Managers in Rural, Remote and Indigenous Communities 2025-2026, which is in its fifth edition.
The Forum held a plenary session to address the issue of regulations and public policies and another one to discuss collaborative ecosystems for community connectivity in Latin America (Photo: REDES A.C.)
Local realities
"Connectivity solutions must be inclusive, sustainable and adapted to local realities," Bruno Ramos, ITU Regional Office director, noted at the Forum. He stressed that community networks, people-centred approaches and collaborative management models are effective tools for closing the digital divide, while at the same time strengthening community autonomy and resilience.
“Dialogue spaces such as this forum are essential for advancing more flexible and inclusive regulatory frameworks and ensuring that community voices are heard in decision making.” Bruno Ramos, ITU Regional Office director
In her statement, Mercedes Olivares Tresgallo, CRT member, acknowledged the challenges Indigenous communities face in sustaining their communication projects and she reiterated that there was an institutional commitment to support them:
“I commit here to lend our support, not only with technical assistance, but in everything necessary. […] We understand that there needs to be a public policy with a human face, making the possibilities that [Indigenous communities] have always had a right to truly felt and experienced, and today we are called upon to firmly make that happen.” Mercedes Olivares Tresgallo, CRT member
For her part, Elizabeth Sosa, PROMTEL general director, underscored that the digital divide in Mexico is still very wide, with significant inequality between urban and rural areas: while 86.9% of urban populations have internet access, in rural areas that figure drops down to 68.5%.
The Forum was held after Bootcamp 2026, organised as part of the fifth edition of the Blended Training Programme for ICT Network Managers in Rural, Remote and Indigenous Communities.
“Regulations have historically been designed for large operators,” Sosa emphasised. In this context, she explained that the National Proximity Operators Strategy seeks to contribute to closing these gaps by expanding connectivity and guaranteeing fundamental rights, under a coordinated strategy involving the Digital Transformation Agency, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, through the ratification and streamlining of procedures, and PROMTEL.
She also invited operators in communities, including community networks, to reach out to PROMTEL in order to facilitate the deployment of more telecommunications networks and their growth through financing schemes tailored to their social contexts, acknowledging that this process has met with major investment challenges, which are being addressed by entities such as the World Bank and the Ministry of Economy, as well as by state governments.
Community voices
Representatives of community initiatives stressed the need to transform the meaning of connectivity under a social redistribution scheme. Nicacia Lino de Jesús, director of the Indigenous radio station Tosepan Limakxtum and the community-run MVNO Wiki Katat, emphasised:
“It is important for us in communication to be able to change how we operate, not just in terms of technology, but in our hearts and our minds; we especially need to stop thinking within a capitalist logic. […] We want to build a form of communication that is more social, more equal.” Nicacia Lino de Jesús, representative of Tosepan Limakxtum radio and Wiki Katat
Nicacia explained that community connectivity initiatives such as Wiki Katat or TIC OMV, which operate under non-profit schemes that reinvest 15% of their income in local projects, have furthered collective processes that seek to reimagine modes of communication from a community perspective, highlighting that while technologies were not designed for Indigenous peoples, they are now being appropriated by communities as a right.
Forum participants included Alejandro Guevara Sanginés, who was in charge of the event’s inauguration, Roxana Widmer-Illescu and Caroline Brandão from the ITU, CITEL’s Óscar León, Christian O’Flaherty from the Internet Society, Janina Cuevas and Naroa Zurutuza from Giga/UNICEF and Adriana Labardini from Rhizomatica and APC, as part of the Local Networks (LocNet) initiative. All of them reaffirmed their commitment to continue supporting communities in the development of solutions that will help close the digital divide, with an approach centred on rights, sustainability, training and local participation.
Organisations that support community initiatives in Mexico and other countries such as Colombia and Argentina also contributed their thoughts. (Photo credit: REDES A.C.)
Also in attendance were regulators with important initiatives on the subject, including Bernardita Guillén Iriarte of Paraguay’s National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) and Ángela Lora of the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (INDOTEL). Florencia Rojas of Fundación Avina, Ana Müller of Mesa de Comunicación Popular de Salta y Jujuy (Argentina) and Lilian Chamorro of Colnodo (Colombia) participated in representation of organisations that provide support for community initiatives.
You can watch the transmission of the Forum in full on REDES A.C.’s YouTube channel.