Mexico's CFE to invest $600 million in nationwide public Wi‑Fi network

The state‑run Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) will fund a new phase of Mexico’s public telecommunications program with an investment of about US$600 million (roughly 10.5 billion pesos). The plan calls for the deployment of nearly 27,750 free Wi‑Fi access points across all 32 states, primarily in tele‑schools, IMSS Bienestar medical units and other public spaces.

The network will use a mix of fiber‑optic, copper, satellite and 4G technologies, depending on local conditions, and will be financed from CFE’s own revenue generated by the sale of connectivity services rather than from federal budget transfers. Existing infrastructure already includes more than 100,000 public access points, with thousands of towers, kilometres of fiber and millions of mobile services operated by CFE. The expansion aims to narrow Mexico’s digital divide, where internet penetration has risen to 86 % of the population, but rural coverage still lags behind urban areas.