Introduction to CFE Telecom and its Recent Announcement
CFE Telecom, a subsidiary of the Mexican state-owned electric utility company, has recently announced the installation of 4,907 4G LTE towers and a 21,000 km dark fiber optic network. They also reported deploying 3,321,505 mobile services, though the exact meaning of this last figure remains unclear. While it’s commendable that CFE Telecom is sharing progress on infrastructure, more detailed and time-series data would be beneficial for both stakeholders and taxpayers to assess their performance.
The Need for More Transparent and Contextual Information
To truly evaluate CFE Telecom’s progress, it is essential to know not only the number of 4G LTE towers but also how many are connected via dark fiber optic cables. Currently, their reliance on optical fiber links to exploit the 700 MHz band suggests suboptimal resource utilization, given that this bandwidth is heavily subsidized.
As a para-state enterprise, CFE Telecom should also disclose deployment and operational costs. Without greater transparency, isolated data releases won’t effectively demonstrate whether the federal government’s efforts are yielding desired outcomes or if the allocated resources genuinely contribute to narrowing the digital divide.
Assessing the Scale of CFE Telecom’s Project
Considering Mexico’s significant digital divide, it is crucial to place CFE Telecom’s 4,907 towers in context. The largest mobile operator in Mexico covers approximately 92% of the country’s territory with at least 22,000 base stations. This comparison highlights the importance of evaluating infrastructure projects with proper context.
In my opinion, the federal government’s chosen model for deploying access infrastructure in underserved areas is less than ideal. The shared spectrum initiative, now nearly identical to CFE Telecom’s project, has already shown signs of financial distress, as seen with Altán Redes. It remains to be seen how long it will take before we learn that CFE Telecom’s efforts require even more substantial resource injections.
Meanwhile, the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) complaints about Mexico granting CFE Telecom exemption from antitrust regulations underscore the need for a more balanced approach.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is CFE Telecom’s recent announcement? CFE Telecom has installed 4,907 4G LTE towers and a 21,000 km dark fiber optic network, along with deploying 3,321,505 mobile services.
- Why is more detailed information needed? To assess CFE Telecom’s progress, stakeholders require time-series data on key indicators such as the number of connected 4G LTE towers and dark fiber optic links.
- What are the concerns regarding CFE Telecom’s project? Concerns include suboptimal resource utilization, lack of transparency on costs and performance, and the potential for the project to become overly burdensome for taxpayers.
- How does CFE Telecom’s project compare to existing mobile coverage in Mexico? The largest mobile operator covers around 92% of the country’s territory with at least 22,000 base stations, highlighting the need for context when evaluating CFE Telecom’s progress.
- What are the potential implications of the federal government’s chosen model? The selected model for deploying access infrastructure may prove financially unsustainable, as demonstrated by the Altán Redes case.
