Call signs in Mexico

Call signs in Mexico are unique identifiers for telecommunications, radio communication, radio broadcasting and transmission. They are regulated internationally by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as well as nationally by the Federal Telecommunications Institute, which regulates broadcast stations, wireless telecommunications and spectrum use.

The ITU has assigned Mexico the following call sign blocks for radio communication, broadcasting or transmission:

While not directly related to call signs, the ITU further divided all countries assigned amateur radio prefixes into three regions; Mexico is located in ITU Region 2. Mexico is in ITU zone 10 and CQ zone 6.

XE
Mexico uses the prefix XE for radio stations in the AM and shortwave services. Following the callsign, either the suffix -AM or -OC (Onda Corta, the Spanish term for shortwave) are included. Sometimes, FM or television stations also have “XE” callsigns, but these are typically old (e.g., XETRA-FM and XETV-TDT).

XH
XH is used exclusively for FM radio stations, and television stations. FM stations’ calls carry the -FM suffix, whereas digital television stations carry the -TDT suffix; -TV was used for analog television stations.

Amateur radio
The IFT issues call signs in the XE and XF series for amateur use, the latter mainly for offshore use. 60,000 licensed ham radio operators broadcast in Mexico.

The separating numeral is used to identify the region in which the amateur is licensed:

Foreign ham operators
Typically, a permit to operate in Mexico states the call sign, which can be the home call sign with a further XE prefix. For instance a home call sign of WA1ZZZ becomes XE1/WA1ZZZ.

Further, those who operate outside of the XE1 area would add an identifying suffix – for instance XE1/WA1ZZZ/XE2 to operate in northern Mexico. The call sign must be given always as enumerated on the permit, and the operator's location must be stated in Spanish.

The permit does not automatically allow operation in XF island areas. Special permission must be sought for island operation.

Special events
Call signs in the 6DA–6JZ block have been used for special events. In 2007, 6G1LM was assigned to Federación Mexicana de Radioexperimentadores for their 75th anniversary, as was 6F75A. Occasionally, other special call sign prefixes have been briefly allowed, such as XA5T, XB9Z, and XE0DX during amateur radio contests. 4C1ASM was used by the Asociación de Scouts de Mexico (Mexican Scouts Association) during the Jamboree on the Air JOTA for some years.

6H1 also replaced the XE1 prefix, 6I2 replaced the XE2 prefix, and 6J3 replaced the XE3 prefix. 6E4 replaced XF4 for the Revillagigedo island group.