• NEW PROGRAM: The López Obrador Administration is betting on a new government company (dependent of the state-owned electric utility, CFE) to breach the digital divide in Mexico aiming to bringin internet access to 112,000 free hotspots at public schools and hospitals.
• BUDGET: Earlier this year, Mexico’s Congress passed a 2020 budget of USD 56.5 million for the new government company (CFE Telecomunicaciones), a mere fraction behind private sector’s investment in the sector which in 2016 was USD 3.6 billion according to Government figures.
• PRECEDENT: Under a program by the previous Administration, free public hotspots were already available at 101,000 public sites around the country. However, this programed was let phased out this year as it dependent on service contracts with private telecommunications providers.
• PRIORITIES: Per the new plan, 88% of the free hotspots would be at public schools around the country but giving priority to some of the poorest states: Oaxaca, Chiapas, Veracruz, Guerrero and Michoacán; only 43% of elementary schools have internet access, government figures show.
