Undersecretariat of Telecommunications declares expiration of community radio in Arica

The Undersecretariat of Telecommunications declared the expiration of the community citizen broadcasting concession for the commune of Arica, Arica and Parinacota Region, call sign XQI-82, held by the Agrupación Indígena Cultural Social Deportiva y Recreativa Unidos por la Tierra, RUT No. 65.180.124-9. The decision is contained in exempt decree No. 1,201, dated October 15, 2026, signed by the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Louis de Grange Concha, and published in the Official Gazette (Diario Oficial) no. 44,591 on Thursday, November 5, 2026, in Section II (Particular Norms), under official reference CVE 2895969.

The expiration does not arise from an autonomous administrative resolution, but rather executes a judicial ruling. The decree invokes Article 36 of Law No. 18,168, General Telecommunications Law, whose final paragraph requires that expiration be declared by supreme decree, and relies on Law No. 20,433, which created the Community Citizen Broadcasting Service, and supreme decree No. 126, of 1997, which approves the Sound Broadcasting Regulations.

The origin: a 2022 sentence

The file reached the Undersecretariat via the department’s Attesting Officer (Ministro de Fe), through official letter No. 1,965, dated March 3, 2023, with Subtel entry No. 147,588, dated September 24, 2026. That letter included the sentence of May 25, 2022, issued in the proceeding under Case No. (Rol) 12,729 of 2021, which sanctioned the group with the expiration of the concession.

The decree notes that said ruling is final or enforceable, a requirement that enables the administrative act. Consequently, the expiration operates as a legal consequence of a sanction already resolved by the courts and not as a discretionary decision by the regulator.

The administrative chain of the measure

The decree details the regulatory and documentary sequence supporting the decision:

• exempt decree No. 644, of 2020, from the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, which granted the community citizen concession for Arica.
• sentence of May 25, 2022, in proceeding Case No. (Rol) 12,729 of 2021, which imposed the expiration.
• official letter No. 1,965, from the Attesting Officer of the Undersecretariat, with Subtel entry No. 147,588.
• resolution No. 36, of 2024, from the Comptroller General of the Republic, regarding the exemption from the “toma de razón” (legal review) process, which allows the act to be issued as an exempt decree.

What changes for the station and for the signal

With the publication of the decree, the concession for XQI-82 is extinguished, and the distinctive signal no longer has a holder in the commune of Arica. The act orders the recording of the measure, its notification to the interested party—the Agrupación Indígena Cultural Social Deportiva y Recreativa Unidos por la Tierra—and its publication in the Diario Oficial, a procedure that was completed this November 5.

Exempt decree No. 1.201 is further supported by decree law No. 1.762, of 1977, which created the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications, and by supreme decree No. 103, of 2008, from the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications.

The case adds to a series of community radio expirations resolved via supreme decree during 2026, including those of Llay-Llay (XQJ-306) and Los Vilos, confirming a pattern of strict execution of judicial sanctions and legal deadlines in the community segment. For the readers of Arica, the immediate effect is that a citizen-oriented frequency ceases to operate under a valid enabling title, and the space becomes available for future public tenders by the regulator.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, no. 44,591, November 5, 2026, Section II (Particular Norms), p. 1 (official reference: CVE 2895969).