Some big pieces of news, lately.
The first one is that we just installed our 10th site. I am not sure if any of the Rhizomatica team thought we’d actually get to this point. When we started out community cellular we just an idea. There wasn’t really any afforsable hardware that worked well, the software had all kinds of bugs, and so on. We still have lots of challenges to overcome together with our partners and suppliers, but we received a huge piece of news at year’s end that seems to point to the continued existence and expansion of community cellular, at least here in Mexico.
Which brings us to the second big thing, one that has been the result of months, if not years of work by Rhizomatica, and lots of good timing. The regulator here in Mexico, IFETEL, just published it’s National Frequency Attribution Plan and:
“For the first time specific bands have been assigned for social use in the telecommunications sector. As part of this, various portions that are available within the segment known as the cellular band, between 824-849 and between 869-894 MHz, are now available for concessioning.
It is proposed that these portions of the spectrum are to be concessioned for the provision of rural connectivity, which could meet the immediate needs of basic telephone service in regions not served by existing licensees.”
This means that the entire country, minus Mexico City and the surrounding states, can now benefit from community networks like the one’s Rhizomatica helps to operate. This is huge and unprecedented, as far as we know.
And for all of you Spanish speakers, here is a video for your enjoyment.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRfvKAWvNuI&w=560&h=315]