Telefónica has reached a conclusion: the inequality of access to the internet is opening up every time in Mexico. According to the report “Digital Society in Latin America”, prepared and presented last week by the telecommunications company, the health crisis emphasized the need to close the digital gaps that prevail in the country.
“In 2019, almost two thirds of Mexican households located in urban areas had an internet connection, however, in rural areas only 23.4% had connectivity. The gap, therefore, stands at 42.1 points”, details the document of the company of Spanish origin.
Mexico is one of the target markets of an initiative launched by the company of Spanish origin in 2018, whose objective is to connect the more than 100 million people in Latin America who do not have access to the Internet. To achieve this, the firm expanded its collaboration with Facebook on key technology and business innovations, as well as other companies and agencies such as rural operators, technology firms and regulators.
“Digitalization is a determining factor for economic and social progress, and mobile broadband can play a key role in bridging the digital divide. 20% of the region’s population still lack adequate access to mobile broadband “, said the company during the presentation of the initiative.
Elena Estavillo, former commissioner of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT) and invited by the company to present the study, stressed that in order for rural populations to have access to the digital world, a digital strategy is required that helps define specific routes to reduce the connectivity and technological inequalities. However, so far no digital strategy has been issued by the State.
“(The issue of closing digital and connectivity gaps) cannot be solved by a single company or government. We need the federal government and local governments to be in this equation. There is a huge space for collaboration but in a specific and understand what is up to each one”, he explains.
The specialist comments that in Mexico it is urgent that there be policies and strategies focused on closing particular gaps, which allow us to understand the problems and realities of each population that is being systematically marginalized.
“There are not the same technological obstacles that a middle-class elderly woman has as another woman of the same age in a rural environment,” she says.
Although the deployment of infrastructure and access to connectivity is one of the axes that must be considered to reduce digital divides, access to mobile devices that allow technological skills to be triggered must also be included.
According to the 2021 Internet Inclusion Index study carried out by Facebook, at the Latin American level, Mexico was placed as the nation with the highest costs to access a mobile phone.
“The issue of access to devices must be resolved because the price is a great obstacle for users to have reasonable access to these devices,” warns Estavillo.
