MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Ricardo García Giorgana, Carlos Chavez Alanis and Xavier Careaga Franco, Galicia Abogados
which complicates negotiations. While some sectors have achieved limited standardisation, this remains the exception. The complexity of these agreements can create challenges during litigation, particularly given the recent judiciary amendment in Mexico. Judges may struggle to interpret the technical aspects of technology agreements accurately, often prompting parties to seek arbitration instead. Arbitration provides decision-makers with specialised technical knowledge that is often lacking in the judiciary. Conversely, some technology contracts are insufficiently technical, leading to ambiguity and broad interpretation by parties or judges. Cus - tom definitions and clauses, often necessary due to the lack of specific regulation, require lawyers with a deep understanding of the technology to tailor agreements properly. Missteps in this pro - cess can result in poorly aligned contracts that fail to address the needs of the transaction. Technology agreements must account for key regulatory and legal elements, including IP rights, data protection and privacy regulations, confidentiality and trade secrets, consumer pro - tection laws (if applicable), and general civil and commercial law. Upcoming cybersecurity regu - lations are also likely to impact such agreements. Highly regulated industries, such as banking, insurance, finance and healthcare, face stricter requirements for technology acquisitions due to their sensitivity to technological risks. Similarly, technology agreements with government enti - ties are subject to stringent regulations, includ - ing those related to procurement, national secu - rity and public sector standards. While most agreements are open for discussion between the parties, there are some elements that must be accounted for, such as (i) copy - right and IP rights, (ii) privacy and personal data
protection regulations, (iii) confidentiality and trade secrets, (iv) consumer protection laws, if applicable, (v) standard commercial and civil law requirements and, ideally, (vi) cybersecurity regulations.
7.2 Service Agreements and Interconnection Agreements
Service agreements in Mexico primarily focus on the relationship between service provid - ers and their customers, while interconnection agreements regulate the establishment of net - work connections between telecommunications operators, ensuring interoperability. Both types of agreements play critical roles in the telecom - munications ecosystem. Telecommunications operators are obligated to interconnect their networks with those of other licensed operators upon request. In this regard, operators providing mobile services must enter into interconnection agreements that define the T&C of such interconnection. Elements of interconnection agreements include (i) network access and interoperability; (ii) terms of access and traffic exchange; (iii) pricing and payment terms; and (iv) quality service. These agreements must be registered with the IFT. Telecommunications operators are free to deter - mine their pricing; however, this does not apply to the preponderant carrier, whose rates are established and published by the IFT. In the event of a disagreement between the licensees, the IFT is responsible for resolving any outstanding terms or conditions related to the interconnection service requested by the user. On 22 October 2024, the IFT published the minimum technical conditions for licensees and outlined the methodology for calculating inter -
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