Co-Co, the project that brings internet to 30,000 people in northern Mexico

Large cell phone companies, such as Telcel, AT&T or Movistar, require a minimum of between 2,500 and 5,000 users to offer services. But places like El Prado, with approximately 500 inhabitants, do not represent an attractive market for the telephone and data giants.

“It is incredible to arrive at a place and realize that there is no connectivity at all, not even a telephone. It’s like traveling through time. But it is gratifying to see how the digital divide is being broken when we return to the community for maintenance issues and people are already connected to send messages or to review sites to continue their education,” said Alejandro Hinojosa, founder of Co-Co, the name as the community baptized and now names Connecting Company.

The lack of telecommunications services in rural areas has put on the table the need to create alternative networks to have nearby and affordable services. In rural areas, only six out of 10 people can access connectivity services, according to data from ENDUTIH 2023. But currently Co-Co has managed to reach more than 30,000 people in entities such as Nuevo León, Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Baja California Sur, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Durango and Veracruz, access the internet, through satellite technology with allies such as Starlink.

The project, which began with an investment of 300,000 pesos between family and friends, operates at affordable rates so that the inhabitants of these communities do not find major obstacles to accessing the internet. Prices range from 15 pesos to 110 pesos.

“The idea was to do everything via satellite but we know that this is expensive. That is why we thought that to have certainty about the project we would sell the service from 15 pesos through tokens and now residential, and what results from this internet sale we will put the rest to continue providing connectivity,” said Hinojosa.

These projects managed by independent companies that go to communities allow their inhabitants not only to develop digital skills, but also to generate new economic possibilities. The little stores or the residents themselves have begun to see the possibility of promoting the services or products they sell on the Internet, and even selling the Co-Co service.

“When you start to have connectivity, local development is promoted. When I go to the communities I find out that local businesses communicate by messages to let them know that they have oats, meat, mushrooms, among other things, and that undoubtedly promotes local development,” said the founder of Co-Co.

“This has made us decide to leave aside the issue of business networks and dedicate ourselves exclusively to opening communities. Now we are looking to make alliances to continue the project,” said Hinojosa.

Search capital

The connectivity service that Co-Co initially brought to communities like El Prado corresponded to more WiFi points, but now it has decided that the internet reaches homes, but this has implied greater investments to improve satellite technology.

Co-Co uses low orbit satellite technology – which allows coverage in specific areas – and geostationary – which amplifies the spectrum of sites where the connectivity service is enabled. But to maintain both technologies, the company is looking for funding. For now, Co-Co is collaborating with New Ventures, a social entrepreneurship accelerator, to obtain capital that will allow it to sustain and amplify the project, since in the country there is a great need for connectivity where telecommunications have not yet reached. They have also opted to obtain alliances with companies to reach more communities.

Altán Redes and the state-owned CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos (CFE TEIT) seek to close the country’s digital divide, focusing their efforts on sites where large telecommunications companies and even small operators are located, leading them to warn of economic risks for their projects. , but for Hinojosa, the fact that the state company and Red Compartida seek to attack their market niche does not mean that this can bring them complications; on the contrary, he sees better prospects for the State and projects like Co-Co to provide infrastructure in these places.

“I think the more the better. I think we all want to be connected and if we have greater service options this improves the consumer experience, especially for those in areas that for a long time have been left without the possibility of having internet in a close and especially inclusive way,” says Hinojosa.