5G is making its way in Mexico, but everything indicates that its adoption will be gradual. In an environment where inflation makes it more difficult to acquire compatible technological equipment , telecommunications companies say that a subsidy is necessary to accelerate its adoption.
Today, a smartphone compatible with 5G would have to cost between 7,000 and 20,000 pesos, together with a postpaid plan from 600 pesos, since for now the fifth generation is only available in monthly packages.
Telecommunications companies recognize that industries such as manufacturing, mining, transportation, logistics, energy, health and entertainment , among others, will initially benefit from the new technology. However, companies know that the role of users in the development of new technologies is relevant, otherwise it makes no sense for telecommunications operators to “build the networks.”
One solution proposed by managers in the telecommunications sector to accelerate the transition and adoption of new technologies is the subsidy of devices .
“We try to lower the cost of our devices (…) We have seen it with 4G, where two years after its launch we saw the prices of phones go down due to economies of scale , and we hope that with 5G this will happen. But, without a doubt, a great solution for accelerating the adoption of technologies in rural areas to close the digital gap is that these devices can be subsidized”, explains Chafic Nassif, president of Ericsson for Latin America and the Caribbean.
This is a strategy used by other governments around the world. The governments of Europe, America and the Middle East, as well as Japan and South Korea, which were the first to push 5G, have come up with supporting policies and subsidies to boost the construction of the 5G network. South Korea, for example, has reduced taxes on 5G deployment by 3% to support 5G applications in vertical industries.
Middle Eastern countries like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have invested to build 5G-based smart cities, while the United States is subsidizing $20.4 billion to support broadband coverage in rural areas. Germany is investing €20 billion to build 5G base stations.
Although most of the incentives allocated by other countries are focused on subsidizing the deployment of networks and infrastructure – subsidy for the construction of networks, support for rural broadband coverage and the financing of vertical industry applications – and not so much in devices, Enrique Yamuni, president of the National Chamber of the Electronic, Telecommunications and Information Technology Industry (Canieti), assures that this option is necessary so that people do not fall behind in new technologies and can develop technological skills, for which its subsidy would have to come from public spending.
“(Access to technologies) is not a problem of network availability, it is an economic problem, because we have to understand that public money has to go to subsidize the most unprotected people to bridge our digital gap, ” Yamuni points out.
According to the National Survey on the Availability and Use of Information Technologies in Households (ENDUTIH) 2020, in Mexico 88.2 million users aged six or older have a cell phone, that is, 75.5% of the population. The remaining 24.5% still do not have access to this type of technology .
In addition, as of the second quarter of this year, just over half of the population still used phones with 3G technology, according to data from The Ciu consulting firm.
This year, legislators and even companies such as América Móvil have pointed out that the only way to reduce the access gap is to create policies or social programs so that people with fewer resources can buy or obtain smartphones to continue their studies or to integrate into the digital world. .
Other international experiences, however, have achieved the massification of technology through indirect subsidies. South Korea , the first country to announce the commercialization of 5G, has amassed 2.5 million 5G users. The government subsidizes the installation of infrastructure, while operators spare no expense in rolling out 5G, with some offering customers 50% rebates on 5G smartphone purchases.
