Internet in Mexico
Mexico Internet service
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Through Spyware
Telmex is the largest provider of (A)DSL connection. After being converted from a state monopoly to a private enterprise by President Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1990, it took the Mexican Government 5 years to establish regulations in the Telecommunications Act and only then were competitors allowed to enter the Mexican telecommunication market, leaving Telmex' and its owner Carlos Slim enough time to extend their technological lead. Nevertheless, Mexico is lagging behind the world average in connection speeds.
Mexico is one of the few Latin American countries that has little or no Internet censorship. However, increasing threats and violence against media outlets, reporters, and bloggers related to drugs and drug trafficking leads to self-censorship by the press and by individuals.
Broadband ISPs
xDSL
ISPs that provide xDSL:
- Telmex started selling ISDN connections under the Prodigy Turbo brand name in the mid '90s. The service was then replaced for a few years with xDSL connections sold under the Prodigy Infinitum brand name. XDSL is now being offered under the Telmex brand name directly.
- Terra, Also provided by Telmex under Terra brand.
- Alestra
- Maxcom
Cable
- Izzi Telecom
Packages include TV, Telephone and Internet services.
FTTH
Recently there's been a big push towards fiber in the 3 big cities in Mexico (Mexico City, Guadalajara & Monterrey) and they offer up to 100 Mbit/s links, both synchronous and asynchronous. These services are being provided by:
- Axtel
- Iusacell
- Telmex
- TotalPlay
It is notable that not all providers offer all connection options to all customers. TotalPlay, for example, limits upload speeds to 10% of the purchased download speed (for residential customers, as of April 2020). While any discussion of upload speed is assiduously avoided on their website, this can be confirmed by calling their sales team directly. This is also mentioned on their Wikipedia page: TotalPlay Internet (Spanish).
WiMax
ISPs that provide Wimax Technology:
- AXTEL (ISP) - AXTEL started selling Wimax connections at the beginning of 2008. The service has been rebranded and named Acceso Universal.
Wireless (non-cellular)
- E-Go (MMDS) provided service in Monterrey, Guadalajara, Toluca & Mexico City, until the Secretaria de Telecomunicaciones y Transportes revoked its license to operate the 2.5 GHz spectrum
- SupernetMX provided service in Chetumal, Bacalar, Calderitas, Huay pix and Xul Ha. Their website does not resolve to any server, and apparently the company no longer exists.
- Ultranet2Go (WiMax) provides service in Puebla, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Aguascalientes, with plans ranging from $249 to $999 pesos
Wireless (cellular)
There are three network operator:
- Telcel (HSDPA+ / HSPA+ / 4G / LTE / 4.5G / 5G)
- AT&T Mexico (Hybrid CDMA/GSM HSDPA-HSPA+ network / 4G / LTE / 4.5G)
- Movistar (GPRS/EDGE/3G-HSDPA+)
and several MVNOs such as Virgin Mobile, Cierto, weex, Aló, Flash Mobile, Oui Movil, Maz Tiempo and QUBocel.
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Internet censorship
Mexican law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups can engage in the expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) found no evidence of Internet filtering in 2011. Mexico was classified as "partly free" in the Freedom on the Net 2011 report from Freedom House.
Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) exercise an increasing influence over media outlets and reporters, at times directly threatening individuals who published critical views of crime groups. As citizens increasingly use social media Web sites such as Twitter and Facebook to obtain and share drug-related news, violence against the users of these sites is rising dramatically. The threats and violence lead to self-censorship in many cases.
Two states introduced new restrictions on the use of social media. In August 2011 Veracruz officials arrested Gilberto Martinez Vera and Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola for allegedly spreading rumors of violence on Twitter. They were released following protests from civil society groups, but the state created a new “public disturbance” offense for use in similar cases in the future. Similarly, the state of Tabasco outlawed telephone calls or social network postings that could provoke panic. Civil society groups feared that the laws could be used to curb freedom of expression online.
On September 24, 2011, police in Nuevo Laredo found the headless body of a female journalist who wrote on TCO activity on Primera Hora de Nuevo Laredo newspaper and as an online blogger under the pseudonym of “La Nena de Laredo” (translating to “Laredo Girl” or literally “The Girl From Laredo”). Two other Nuevo Laredo-based bloggers were allegedly tortured and killed by TCOs in September and November, again in retaliation for posting comments on the Internet about local drug cartels.
In May 2009, the Mexican Federal Electoral Institute (IFE), asked YouTube to remove a parody of Fidel Herrera, governor of the state of Veracruz. Negative advertising in political campaigns is prohibited by present law, although the video appears to be made by a regular citizen, which would make it legal. It was the first time a Mexican institution intervened directly with the Internet.
In 2014, the Mexican government proposed the new Telecommunication Law, which if approved would seriously cripple the right of users to have free uncensored internet in similar ways to the SOPA and ACTA laws. This initiative was received with public outrage.
On 19 June 2017, The New York Times, in conjunction with Carmen Aristegui and Televisa news reporter Carlos Loret de Mola, reported that the Mexican government had used the Pegasus spyware to surveil on targets such as reporters, human rights leaders and anti-corruption activists using text messages as lures. From 2011 to 2017, the Mexican government spent $80 million on spyware. Pegasus infiltrates a person's cell phone and reports on their messages, e-mails, contacts and calendars.
As of July 2017, Oxford Internet Institute's Computational Propaganda Research Project claimed Mexico's social media manipulation (Peñabots) to come directly from the Mexican government itself.