The Supreme Court invalidates annual municipal license fees for antennas

The Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation declared the invalidity of Article 60, sections I, II, and III, of Law Number 367 of Revenues for the Municipality of General Canuto A. Neri, State of Guerrero, for the 2026 Fiscal Year, which imposed annual fees for the issuance of licenses or permits to install and operate telephony antennas and masts. The resolution was issued in Constitutional Controversy 123/2026, promoted by the Federal Executive Power, and was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on October 19, 2026 (Publication No. 286/2026, p. 54).

The ruling, approved by a unanimous vote of nine in the session of June 29, 2026, concludes that the municipal regulation invades federal jurisdiction regarding telecommunications as provided in Articles 6, section B; 28; and 73, section XVII, of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. The presentation was handled by Minister Yasmín Esquivel Mossa, and Minister Sara Irene Herrerías Guerra announced a concurring vote.

The annulled rates

The invalidated provision established an annual charge calculated in multiples of the current Unit of Measure and Update (UMA), according to the height of the structure:

• Up to 10 meters in height: 250 times the UMA.
• Over 10 meters: 5 times the UMA for each additional meter.
• Internet relay antennas up to 10 meters: 5 times the UMA.

For the Plenary Tribunal, this structure reveals that it is not an ordinary construction license, but rather “a specific and recurring economic burden” on the infrastructure of a public service of general interest. The annual nature of the charge was decisive: in the Court’s view, it is not exhausted in the initial review of a work, but rather conditions the permanence and operation of the infrastructure.

The federal argument and Guerrero’s defense

The Federal Executive Power challenged the regulation via an official letter submitted on February 16, 2026, by Esthela Damián Peralta, legal advisor to the Federal Executive; the lawsuit was admitted on February 23, 2026. The local Executive, represented by Jorge Salgado Parra, maintained that its intervention was limited to promulgating and publishing the law, while the Congress of the State of Guerrero, through Alejandro Carabias Icaza, argued that the article only regulated land use, construction, and urban development.

Both defenses were dismissed. The Court specified that the municipal powers under Article 115 of the Constitution are not absolute and cannot become an authorization to specifically tax the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure. The Chambers of Deputies and Senators of the Congress of the Union also intervened as interested third parties, requesting that the grounds for invalidity be declared well-founded.

Precedents and scope for municipalities

The ruling is based on unconstitutionality action 3/2023, which annulled a similar charge in Morelia, Michoacán, and on constitutional controversies 49/2024, 50/2024, 60/2024, 61/2024, 62/2024, 72/2024, 73/2024, 75/2024, 76/2024, 77/2024, and 78/2024, relating to revenue laws of municipalities in Coahuila. The closest case is Constitutional Controversy 72/2024, regarding article 22, fraction XV, of the Revenue Law of Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, for 2024.

The Plenary emphasized that the disappearance of the Federal Telecommunications Institute due to the constitutional reform for organic simplification, published on December 20, 2024, did not transfer the matter to states or municipalities: leadership remains within the federal sphere, through the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, pursuant to the Law on Telecommunications and Broadcasting, published on July 16, 2025.

Effects of the resolution

The invalidity will take effect upon notification of the resolution points to the Congress of the State of Guerrero, and the ruling must also be notified to the municipality of General Canuto A. Neri, the authority responsible for applying the revenue law. The ruling orders its publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation, the Official Gazette of the Government of the State of Guerrero, and the Judicial Weekly of the Federation and its Gazette.

The decision closes the door to a charging scheme that several city councils have attempted to replicate: any municipal regulation that expressly identifies antennas, masts, towers, ducts, or fiber optics and imposes specific authorizations or fees on them falls outside the urban planning scope and enters federal territory. For telecommunications operators, this criterion reduces the risk of differentiated local charges that increase the cost of network deployment; for municipalities, it confirms that their margin in this matter is limited to collaboration and general urban planning regulation.

Source: Official Gazette of the Federation, No. 286/2026, October 19, 2026, p. 54 (official reference: Constitutional Controversy 123/2026).