| Telecommunications | |
|---|---|
| Telmex Retail Store in Puerto Vallarta | |
| Telephone land lines | 19.8 million (2006) |
| Mobile lines | 57 million (2006) |
| Telephone country code | + 52 |
| Internet Users | 22.7 million (2007) |
| Internet country code | .mx |
Communications in Mexico are regulated by the Secretariat of Communication and Transportation (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes or SCT), a federal executive cabinet ministry and by the Federal Telecommunications Commission (Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones [Federal Telecommunications Commission] or COFETEL).
Mexico's communication services market is among the largest in Latin America,[1] liberalized in the 1990s, with the landmark privatization of Teléfonos de México (Telmex) a previously state-owned monopoly. Since then, new operators have entered the market, but Telmex still remains the dominant player.
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Founded on May 13, 1891, as the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works, the SCT is divided into three subsecretariats: the Subsecretariat of Infrastructure, the Subsecretariat of Communications and the Subsecretariat of Transportation.
Usage of radio, television and Internet in Mexico nowadays is prevalent.[2] The first television transmission in Mexico was conducted by Javier Stavoli in 1931. Guillermo González Camarena built his own monochromatic camera in 1934, and in 1940 he developed the first trichromatic system and obtained the first patent for color television in the world.[3] After developing radio and television stations, in 1948, he built the studio Gon-Cam, which was considered the best television system in the world in the time, according to survey conducted by the Columbia College of Chicago.[3] With the passage of the century, the television broadcasting market became dominated by two powerful companies, Televisa—the largest Spanish media company in the Spanish-speaking world[4] — and Azteca, even though several dozen regional networks operate in the country. In 2006 there were approximately 1410 radio broadcast stations, and 236 television stations (excluding repeaters), plus 906 complementary stations.
In general, the telecommunications industry is mostly dominated by Telmex (Teléfonos de México), privatized in 1990. Telmex has diversified its operations by incorporating Internet service and mobile telephony. It has also expanded its operations to Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador and the United States.[5] Due Mexican diverse orography—the country is crossed by two high altitude mountain ranges extending from the Rocky Mountains—providing landline telephone service at remote mountainous areas is expensive, and penetration of line-phones per capita is low compared to other Latin American countries, with 20 million lines.[6] Mobile telephony has the advantage of reaching all areas at a lower cost, due to reduced investments in required infrastructure, and the total number of mobile lines in Mexico is four times that of landlines, with an estimated 83 million lines.[6] The telecommunications industry is regulated by the government through Cofetel (Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones).
In April 2009, the ITESM (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey) reported 25,217,500 users; 78% of personal computer Internet access is broadband access.[7] There are approximately 7.6 million internet hosts in Mexico, ranking eight in the world.[8]
The satellite system is domestic with 120 earth stations. There is also extensive microwave radio relay network and considerable use of fiber-optic and coaxial cable.[6]
Mexican satellites are operated by Satélites Mexicanos (Satmex), a private company, leader in Latin America and servicing both North and South America.[9] It offers broadcast, telephone and telecommunication services to 37 countries in the Americas, from Canada to Argentina. Through business partnerships Satmex provides high-speed connectivity to ISPs and Digital Broadcast Services.[10] The system is currently composed of three main satellites: Solidaridad 2, Satmex 5 and Satmex 6 of the world.
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