filed before the Constitutional Court, challenged Articles 1, 63 2, 64 61, 65 and 62 66 of the said law, on the grounds that these provisions would not allow indigenous peoples in Guatemala real access to the radioelectric spectrum, since they would not take into account the situation of poverty that affects those communities. 67 On March 14, 2012, the Constitutional Court ruled that the challenged provisions were constitutional. 68 Nevertheless, it urged the Guatemalan 63 “Article 1. Scope of application. The purpose of this law is to establish a legal framework for the development of telecommunications activities and to regulate the use and exploitation of the radioelectric spectrum, in order to support and promote the efficient development of telecommunications; stimulate investment in the sector; promote competition among different telecommunications service providers; protect the rights of users and providers of telecommunications services; and support the rational and efficient use of the radioelectric spectrum.” Decree No. 9496 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala: General Law of Telecommunications, supra. 64 “Article 2. Subjects. This law is applicable to all users and usufructuaries of the radioelectric spectrum, and to all those who operate and/or commercialize telecommunications services in the national territory, whether they are individuals or legal entities, national or foreign, with private, mixed or governmental participation, regardless of their degree of autonomy or their regime of incorporation.” Decree No. 94-96 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala: General Telecommunications Law, supra. 65 “Article 61. Public tender. For the adjudication of frequency usufruct titles, any interested party, whether they are individuals or legal entities, national or foreign, or a State entity, shall submit to the Superintendency an application specifying the frequency bands and the characteristics indicated in subparagraph a) of Article 57. The Superintendency shall issue a decision admitting or not admitting the application for processing. Said decision shall be issued and notified within three (3) days from the date on which the application was received. In the event of a favorable decision, the Superintendency shall publish the application. The Superintendency may only refuse to process applications for frequency bands which, in accordance with current technological advances, are impossible to define under the conditions proposed by the applicant, those that would breach international agreements, treaties and conventions on the subject ratified by the Government of Guatemala, or those pertaining to frequency bands that have been previously allocated to others, reserved frequency bands or frequency bands for radio amateurs. Individuals or legal entities who have a well-founded and legitimate interest, and who may be harmed if an award is made, may oppose the granting of the usufruct title over the frequency bands requested. Likewise, other persons may express their interest in acquiring, partially or totally, the same frequency band or bands requested. Any objection or interest of third parties shall be submitted to the Superintendency within five (5) days after the expiration of the period for publications pursuant to Article 21. If there is no objection and there are no interested third parties, the Superintendency shall directly grant the right of usufruct of the requested frequency band, ordering its registration in the Telecommunications Registry. If there is an objection, the Superintendency shall have ten (10) days to resolve it. If the objection is declared admissible, the public tender process shall be concluded. On the contrary, if the objection is dismissed and there are no other interested parties the right of usufruct over the requested band shall be granted to the interested party without further procedures. If there are other interested parties, after fifteen (15) days from the date of expiration of the period for raising an objection or having the objection rejected, the Superintendency shall invite the interested parties to participate in a public auction of the requested frequency band, and may split the band, provided it considers that this is necessary to promote competition in the telecommunications market. The auction shall be held within twenty (20) days from the date on which the invitation to participate therein was issued, in accordance with the preceding paragraph, except when the requested band has been split, in which case the term may be extended for up to twenty (20) days. Decree No. 94-96 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala: General Telecommunications Law, supra. 66 “Article 62. Public auction. The Superintendency shall determine the manner in which each public auction shall be conducted. All offers shall be submitted in a sealed envelope, including a performance bond equivalent to the amount offered or any other form of guarantee that the Superintendency may determine. The auctions may have one or several rounds, depending on the modality used by the Superintendency. If the Superintendency has decided to split a band, the auction of the fractions shall take place simultaneously with multiple rounds, clearly specifying the minimum acceptable increments, as well as the manner of ending the auction. The auction’s bidding and adjudication procedures will be supervised by a reputable firm of external auditors. The frequency band shall always be awarded to the highest bidder. No administrative or legal appeals shall be allowed against the adjudication, other than those based on the fact that the auctioned frequency was not awarded to the highest bidder, in which case such appeals shall be addressed and settled in accordance with the provisions of this law. Once the adjudication has been made, and upon payment of the price offered at the auction, the Superintendency shall immediately order its registration in the Telecommunications Registry. Payment must be made within five (5) days from the date of adjudication. The Superintendency shall issue and deliver to the successful bidder the title representing the right of usufruct of the frequencies within the non-extendable term of ten (10) days following the date of adjudication. Holders of usufructuary rights shall register these in the Telecommunications Registry before starting to operate.” Decree No. 94-96 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala: General Telecommunications Law, supra. 67 Cf. Decision of the Constitutional Court. File No. 4238-2011, of March 14, 2012 (evidence file folio 997 to 1022), and Statement rendered by Anselmo Xunic at the public hearing held on June 9, 2021 before the Court. 68 Cf. Decision of the Constitutional Court, supra (evidence file, folios 1013 to 1022). -16-