The government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador has backed the award of two contracts to Starlink, the satellite internet arm of SpaceX, owned by South African businessman Elon Musk. The Central Electricity Commission hired Musk to provide satellite Internet and phone lines through a subsidiary, Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos (CFE-TEIT), through public tenders, two services López Obrador’s administration is trying to bring. to many communities in the country to provide them free of cost to the people. David Pandoja, director of CFE-TEIT, promised this Wednesday that Starlink is “a company with the most advanced technology in terms of data transfer time.”
The official explained that the government has tied up with a dozen companies to get satellite connections in the areas of Wi-Fi and cell phone towers. One of the contracting companies, precisely through its Mexican subsidiary Starlink Satellite Systems México, S. de RL de CV, has awarded CFE-TEIT two contracts: one for free Internet, for 778 million pesos for 1,556 million pesos, and another for cell phone service, for 887 million pesos. to 1,775 million. According to Pantoja, both contracts were won by Starlink for making the best economic proposal and are valid till December 2026.
The head of CFE-TEIT emphasized that among all known providers, Starlink offers the fastest connection speed due to its array of low-orbit satellites. “Since the project started, we have been trying [de Internet para Todos], all possible technologies can connect entire populations very quickly. One of the commonly used technologies is satellite connection. Traditional satellite links are associated with satellites far away from Earth and this causes time delays in all communications. Recently, as everyone knows, a new satellite service is being sold, which is technically called low orbit, and it is sold by the Starlink company, and it is a faster service in terms of data transmission, because there is no delay in the signal. Satellites to Earth,” Pantoja explained at the conference morning of President López Obrador.
The official explained that “since Starlink arrived in Mexico,” two years ago, the company has been in talks with the government to make technical changes to its service so that “this connectivity plan can be operationalized” and deployed. “This tender has already been done after the company, administratively and technically, reached the pace of recruitment. The service is state-of-the-art, it is one of the most advanced services in this area, and it has been promised and achieved, with a very quick response to connections across the country, the contract has been awarded. . . ,” he added. Pantoja.
At the conference, the director of CFE-TEIT described other companies contracted by the parastatal for internet and satellite phone service: Apco Networks, Axess Net Solutions México, GSAT Communicaciones, Next Telekom, SES México, Tangerine Electronics, Televera, Viasat Tecnología in addition to Starling’s Mexican subsidiary. and Hispasat. Pantoja elaborated that the government has contracted with these companies for 22,207 free internet sites and 3,936 cell towers.
The Internet for All project was implemented by López Obrador to reduce the digital divide in Mexican communities. To date, CFE has installed 8,616 telephone transmission towers and expects to close the year with 12,629, Pantoja explained. In terms of free internet service, 84,387 Wi-Fi points have been installed in schools, medical units, libraries, universities and public places. Installed Wi-Fi devices include sites with 4G technology, satellite sites and ADSL modems.
The government’s hiring of Starling marks a solid step forward in Musk’s business expansion plans in Mexico. Magnate, president of Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and the announcement in March created much anticipation in Mexico due to its potential to create jobs and economic benefits, but, to date, construction has not begun.
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