MEXICO CITY - Mexico is considering investing around 30 billion pesos ($.50 billion) for internet connectivity, especially in isolated rural areas, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday.
He told a news conference that you can't even talk on the mobile phone, let alone use the internet outside cities. In Mexico, 66% of households have internet access, according to the latest official data from IFT, the country's telecommunications regulator.
One in five indigenous people, who mostly live in remote areas, still don't have access to any mobile service technology, or about 2 million people, according to IFT this week.
In 2016 the government asked Altan Redes to develop a wholesale national mobile network that promised 92.2% coverage by January 2024, a deadline that was extended to 2028.
The company filed for bankruptcy last year, prompting the state to bail it out and become its majority stakeholder.
The takeover of the Shared Network would help secure internet access in all cities and allow free Wi-Fi in public spaces, according to the Mexican president last month.
Altan got 70% of the way with building the Wi-Fi network, but it didn't reach the last mile. The president said on Wednesday that was a start and we're going to amplify it.
He promised government handouts to help people afford the internet.
He said that everyone, especially those most remote and especially students, should have access to the internet.