Ignored by big companies, Mexican village creates own mobile service
29 Aug 2013 5:22 AM IST
After being ignored by a company owned by the world’s richest man Carlos Slim, a tiny Mexican village has developed its own mobile network with international connections. The local service costs 15 pesos ($1.2) per month-13 times cheaper than a big firm’s basic plan in Mexico City, AFP reports.
The village of Villa Talea de Castro, dotted with small pink and yellow homes, has a population of 2,500 indigenous people. Tucked away in a lush forest in the southern state of Oaxaca, it was not seen as a profitable market for companies such as Slim’s America Movil. The company wanted at least 10,000 subscribers to bring the village into its mobile coverage, AFP said.
So the village, under an initiative launched by indigenous groups, civil organizations and universities, put up an antenna on a rooftop, installed radio and computer equipment, and created its own micro provider called Red Celular de Talea (RCT) this year.
Calls to the United States, where many of the indigenous Zapoteco resident have migrated, charge a few pennies per minute. ‘I have two children who live outside the village and I communicate with them at least two or three times per week,’ restaurant manager Ramiro Perez, 60, told AFP. Before, Perez had to use telephone booths where he paid up to 10 pesos ($0.75) per minute.
The coffee-producing village installed the network with the help of Rhizomatica, a non-profit with US, European and Mexican experts who aim to increase access to mobile telecommunications in communities that lack affordable service. In a statement, Rhizomatica, a civil group named Redes and a town official said they hoped that a telecom reform pushed through Congress by President Enrique Pena Nieto to open the market will ‘break the obstacles’ that prevent the development of such community-based projects.
‘Many indigenous communities have shown interest in participating in this project and we hope that many more can join this scheme,’ the statement said. The equipment used in Talea, which was provided by California-based Range Networks, includes a 900mhz radio network and computer software that routes calls, registers numbers and handles billing. Calls to the United States are channeled via a voice over Internet protocol ( VoIP) provider. The village received a two-year-permit from the Federal Communications Commission to have the right to test the equipment.
The village of Villa Talea de Castro, dotted with small pink and yellow homes, has a population of 2,500 indigenous people. Tucked away in a lush forest in the southern state of Oaxaca, it was not seen as a profitable market for companies such as Slim’s America Movil. The company wanted at least 10,000 subscribers to bring the village into its mobile coverage, AFP said.
So the village, under an initiative launched by indigenous groups, civil organizations and universities, put up an antenna on a rooftop, installed radio and computer equipment, and created its own micro provider called Red Celular de Talea (RCT) this year.
Calls to the United States, where many of the indigenous Zapoteco resident have migrated, charge a few pennies per minute. ‘I have two children who live outside the village and I communicate with them at least two or three times per week,’ restaurant manager Ramiro Perez, 60, told AFP. Before, Perez had to use telephone booths where he paid up to 10 pesos ($0.75) per minute.
The coffee-producing village installed the network with the help of Rhizomatica, a non-profit with US, European and Mexican experts who aim to increase access to mobile telecommunications in communities that lack affordable service. In a statement, Rhizomatica, a civil group named Redes and a town official said they hoped that a telecom reform pushed through Congress by President Enrique Pena Nieto to open the market will ‘break the obstacles’ that prevent the development of such community-based projects.
‘Many indigenous communities have shown interest in participating in this project and we hope that many more can join this scheme,’ the statement said. The equipment used in Talea, which was provided by California-based Range Networks, includes a 900mhz radio network and computer software that routes calls, registers numbers and handles billing. Calls to the United States are channeled via a voice over Internet protocol ( VoIP) provider. The village received a two-year-permit from the Federal Communications Commission to have the right to test the equipment.
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