Altan and Starlink? They would be key to Sheinbaum’s connectivity strategy

The idea of ​​the presidential candidate of the Morena party, says Merino, who is a political scientist and economist by training, is to find a sustainable model for CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos, which until now enables telephone and internet services at affordable prices and in some cases are fully subsidized. To continue these efforts, Claudia Sheinbaum would rely on Altán thanks to the fact that it has the 700MHz spectrum, a key band for guaranteeing social coverage, where the main characteristic it has is its propagation capacity, ideal for providing coverage to areas of less than 5,000 inhabitants.

Until now, the state-owned CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos has used Altán’s network and infrastructure to provide connectivity services, through an income sharing model whose percentage of sales has not been revealed until now. But to make the model more sustainable, it is not ruled out that a change could be made in the company’s operation.

“Altán is important to Dr. Sheinbaum’s mission of creating a more sustainable model, and although for now we cannot say or know if there would be changes in the company’s business model to achieve this, I can only say that if we reach the presidency, the decisions that are required would be made,” the former head of the Digital Agency for Public Innovation of Mexico City assured Expansión in the management of the presidential candidate of the ‘Let’s Keep Making History’ coalition.

Altán, almost two years after restructuring its financial debt with creditors and receiving capital injections from the Mexican Development Bank, has begun to recover its operation and traction from its main clients: Virtual Mobile Operators (OMV).

Only in the first quarter of this year, the company’s sales increased 44.3% year-on-year, registering 1,941 million pesos, although this figure is still far below what the large mobile telephone operators report, according to data from the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).

More satellites from Elon Musk?

The satellites are the other part of the connectivity plan that the former head of government would undertake if she wins the presidential elections. This tactic would be in line with that carried out by President López Obrador to bring internet to nearly 300,000 locations dispersed in small communities in the country. But a large part of these services have been enabled by Starlink, Elon Musk’s company, thanks to the fact that it has won several bidding contests with a validity until 2026.

Merino says that the use of low-altitude satellites, such as those of Starlink, has been a correct decision by President López Obrador, however, he recognizes that this type of technology incurs a large investment for public finances, which is why It should be evaluated whether to continue opting for Elon Musk’s satellite system.

“To cover the national territory you would require more than 100 low-altitude satellites and that requires a very intense volume of satellite production and launches and a large investment, which is why we must evaluate what options we have to make this type of satellite more sustainable.” connectivity,” says Merino.

One of the options proposed is to use satellites that help complement the Altán network. Some of them would be those that are located in the Ka band frequency and that would cost less compared to others, they also provide connectivity at reasonable speeds in places where the deployment of cable to install fiber optic internet is inefficient or unprofitable.

“I think that until now the efforts in satellites and connectivity companies have made great efforts (in the presidential objective) and now (if she wins) Dr. Sheinbaum will have to deepen them,” says José Merino.