On 18 May 2026, Colombia’s Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) issued Technical Circular Circular CRC 2026‑042, effective 1 June 2026. It mandates registered A2P service providers to upgrade signalling gateways to IPv6, and formally brings RCS rich communication services under the regulatory scope of A2P value-added services.
The circular stipulates that operators must not arbitrarily block compliant commercial RCS messages, yet they are required to retain complete message fingerprint logs containing key data such as sending timestamp, device IMEI and base station LAC for anti-fraud traceability audits conducted by CRC. Due to the mandatory migration requirement, multiple small and medium-sized SP providers in Colombia have had their SMS sending privileges suspended for failing to complete IPv6 cutover on schedule.
This mandatory IPv6 upgrade is not an isolated policy. The Official Guide for IPv4 to IPv6 Transition in Colombia published by MinTIC provides top-level policy support and defines the overall roadmap for national communications infrastructure migration to IPv6.
For cross-border A2P service providers, the circular imposes two mandatory compliance obligations: first, complete IPv6 transformation of signalling gateways to prevent service shutdown; second, RCS messaging is no longer an unregulated channel and must comply with the full set of regulatory requirements including log retention and anti-fraud traceability, the same as traditional A2P SMS. Overseas providers entering the Colombian market shall require local PCA/IT integrators to implement all technical provisions of the circular to mitigate operational risks of suspended message termination.
