A dream of connection that fades into silence
In a twist that seems taken from a high-impact thriller, the long-awaited program Internet para Todos finds itself on the brink of the abyss. An investigation by the Superior Audit of the Federation (ASF) has uncovered a truth that shakes the foundations of national connectivity: CFE Telecomunicaciones and the avant-garde Starlink, the company of tycoon Elon Musk, are failing miserably in their mission to bring the digital network to the most remote communities in the country. What promised to be a bridge to the future has become a labyrinth of silent teams and unfulfilled promises.
The report from the auditing entity displays a Dantesque scenario. In the last quarter of 2024, the provider reported the installation of seven thousand five hundred ninety-five sites. However, in an act that tears credibility, two thousand nine hundred and ninety of those computers, a scandalous 39.4%, lay in the most absolute inactivity, either out of service or pending activation. These instruments of connection, mute and inert, betrayed the fundamental objective of their acquisition. To make matters worse, the fog of misinformation reigned, making it impossible to distinguish between completely inactive terminals and those that suffered intermittencies due to technical failures. The most disconcerting detail, the straw that breaks the camel’s back of indignation, is that the authorized payments were made considering the sites reported as active, a financial enigma that cries out to heaven.
The millionaire contract and the shadow of uncertainty
The plot dates back to October 2023, when in a move that promised to revolutionize digital infrastructure, the CFE awarded the contract CFETEIT-CA0069-2023 to Starlink Satellite Systems México. The mission was titanic: to provide low-orbit satellite Internet connectivity service and acquire the associated equipment. Part 1 of this pharaonic project had a maximum authorized amount of one thousand eight hundred and five million pesos, of which, during 2024, the astronomical sum of two hundred and fifty-four million pesos was exercised. The audit, which could only scrutinize that year’s fiscal year, leaves a question floating in the air, a mystery that poisons transparency: the current situation is an absolute unknown.
The response from the authorities was immediate, full of the solemnity that a case of this magnitude demands. The Superior Audit of the Federation, in a report that shakes the desks of power, communicated the formal Promotion of Sanctionary Administrative Responsibility. This crucial movement forces the Responsibilities Unit of the CFE, or its equivalent, to initiate the pertinent investigations and, if the evidence dictates it, begin the corresponding administrative procedure against the public servants accused of alleged irregularities.
The document is forceful and points an accusatory finger towards the management of these officials. In the management of the million-dollar contract, the formulation, design, administration and establishment of the essential control mechanisms for monitoring the progress and compliance of the connectivity project were flagrantly omitted. The absence of a formal technical analysis that defined the number of beneficiary sites and communities plunged the initiative into a planned chaos from its origin, leaving the public points of priority attention in the rural communities of the national territory to their fate.
The consequences: a landscape of ghost teams and isolated communities
The outcome of this failed epic is as tragic as it is predictable. As the curtain closed on 2024, of the ten thousand pieces of equipment acquired with public funds, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six remained in a safekeeping limbo, stacked in a warehouse, without a concrete plan for their activation and deployment. These terminals, which should have been beacons of digital hope, became monuments to abandonment, systematically failing to comply with different laws and regulations in the sector. Each inactive team represents a disconnected community, a family without access to knowledge, a development opportunity that disappears into the ether.
This is not just a story of numbers and contracts; It is the story of a dream of digital inclusion postponed, of a country that struggles to extend its networks in an increasingly interconnected world. The fate of Internet for All hangs in the balance, and its resolution will mark a before and after in the fight to close the digital divide in Mexico.
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