Burial of Telecom Networks: Considerations for the Consumer

In recent days, it was announced that the head of government of Mexico City (CDMX), Claudia Sheinbaum, is promoting an initiative to reorder the wiring of telecommunications networks, especially fiber optics, which runs through the country’s capital, to consequently strengthen local collection, by requiring a payment of rights for its installation.

This regulation would arise from addressing not only a problem of visual pollution, but also of civil protection. The legislative project of the head of the local executive would be added to previous initiatives that sought to speed up the process of burying the telecommunications infrastructure.

Access to Telecommunications in CDMX. The network of poles and wiring in Mexico City (CDMX), on which the air infrastructure that allows electricity and telecommunications rests, enables 7 out of 10 homes to have fixed telephony, about 8 out of 10 ( 75.7%) have internet access, approximately 5 out of 10 (46.9%) have restricted television services and just over a third (34.8%) some streaming service, according to the 2020 Population and Housing Census carried out by the INEGI.

The approval and application in the short term of these initiatives in CDMX would generate effects on the 7.1 million inhabitants of CDMX who are internet users, the 6.5 million who are landline telephone users and even part of the 4.3 million who have with the pay television service.

The air infrastructure of telecommunications networks also enables the provision of mobile services, which would affect these users, who are practically all the inhabitants of CDMX (92.2% of the total) and who account for 8.5 million users.

Potential Affectations due to the Burial of the Wiring. Although praiseworthy for the purposes of the urban image, the process of burying the telecommunications infrastructure would cause effects that would range from partial cuts to services to complete the process, to increases in consumer prices for telecommunications services.

This upward trajectory would derive from the high costs that telecommunications operators would face, as they would require large amounts of investment to carry out the process. Likewise, this circumstance would impose economic barriers to access to these services, a right enshrined in the Constitution.

Some estimates derived from burial experiences in other cities suggest that the cost of “lowering” telecommunications networks could exceed $165,000 dollars per kilometer, that is, around $3.3 million pesos per kilometer.

When considering the nearly 14,000 km of primary, secondary, and restricted roads, the total cost of burying telecommunications networks in CDMX could exceed $46 billion pesos, that is, almost 22 times the GDP of Mexico. telecommunications of the year 2021 and 28% more than the total GDP of the country during the first half of 2022.

Although the objective of the initiatives to bury the infrastructure in CDMX is commendable, the potential effects include the disconnection and the rise in prices of services for users, practically implying the deployment of new networks. These processes must be carried out over time, be long-term projects and minimize the impact on consumers, who today more than ever require full uninterrupted connectivity during their day-to-day activities.

@ernestopiedras