Horacio Gallegos, Markell Pool & Rachel Anderson, May 2001
Introduction
Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world with an
approximate population of 97 million. There are many different
ethnicities residing in Mexico but the majority (60%) is Mestizo, a mix
between indigenous and Spanish ancestry. The remaining population is 30%
indigenous and 10% white. Mexico's society also lives with huge
discrepancies in wealth between the different social classes and ethnic
groups. This contributes to the problem of Internet access and the
digital divide that currently exists. The issues of economy,
telecommunications infrastructure, and various social issues pinpoint the
major barriers to Internet access in Mexico.
The Digital Divide in Mexico
As in many developing nations, the digital divide has roots in the
country's economy and weak middle class. Middle-income families lack the
purchase power to support a high-tech industry. Therefore, information
technologies become a tool of the elite and the line is drawn between
"haves" and "have-nots." The infrastructure that can erase this line is
comprised of PC penetration and availability, Internet access, and
electricity. Although Mexico has seen significant improvement in many
areas like access to electricity, the country still suffers from limited
access to technologies. ISP's, PC's, and phone lines are not as
accessible to people of lower incomes, and virtually unattainable to
those in rural areas.
Telecommunication Infrastructure
The second major problem creating the digital divide is the country's
infrastructure. Using the Internet requires three tools: a computer,
Internet access, and electricity. In regards to the majority of the
population two if not all three of these tools are usually unattainable,
not unavailable.
To even begin to consider having Internet access one must first look at
hardware. In 1998 only about 4.7% of the population owed a personal
computer. Access to hardware is a significant barrier. However,
availability is not a major problem. Most cities in Mexico have the
presence of stores such as Office Depot. It is people located outside
cities and having limited incomes who are denied access to the Internet.
The second concern is phone lines. Telmex, Mexico's largest phone line
provider, was sold by the state to the private sector in 1990 with the
promise that it would provide phone service to the entire country.
However, Telmex has done little to keep its promise. In 1997, the state
broke Telmex's monopoly. As a result, Telmex was forced to lease lines
to other private phone companies (resellers). The state failed to make
arrangements with the telecommunications giant to establish a price
ceiling for line leasing. Telmex was overcharging resellers to lease
lines, thus killing any competition. Furthermore, Telmex required a fee
of $120 US dollars to connect, while the average Mexican worker made only
$200 per month. In 1998, there were only 104 main telephone lines per
1000 people. In simplest terms, Telmex was failing to provide.
However, in the case of electricity, Mexico is at an advantage. In 1996,
95% of the population had access to electricity. This number increased
to 97% in 2000. The major problem exists not in availability of
electricity, but in cost.
Once the barriers of computer, phone line, and electricity have been
breached, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) must be present. A current
search of "Mexico>Internet Service Provider" on Yahoo brings up almost 40
different ISP's. In addition, some computer corporations are
facilitating the use of the Internet. Presario Compaq offers one-year
free Internet access with the purchase of a computer. The rural
villages and small towns, however, are usually still excluded from ISP
connectivity. It is in these communities where most poor Mexican
resides. With the current growth rate of users in cities, there is too
much demand there to divert connectivity efforts to the small rural villages.
Economic Issues
Compared to other countries in the region Mexico ranks among the highest
in economic growth and foreign investment, and boasts an administration
that encourages innovative business practices. However, Mexico continues
to display large discrepancies in wealth between various socio-economic
classes. Moreover, Mexico's various regions create enormous inequalities
between urban city dwellers and rural peasants. In addition, the Federal
District around Mexico City continues to monopolize Mexico's economic,
political, cultural, and financial essence. This exponential population
growth and continued urbanization has increasingly strained an already
struggling economy.
During the 1960's and 1970's Mexico's economic development strategy
involved a large state role and heavy protection from international
competition. By 1980, this strategy, known as import-substitution
industrialization, had produced an inefficient, uncompetitive economy
that could not produce what the nation demanded for growth. After
repeated devaluation and high inflation rates during the 80's and 90's,
the Mexican government has attempted to restructure the economy with a
development strategy sought to make Mexico more efficient and globally
competitive by reducing the role of the state, emphasizing private-sector
initiatives, and replacing foreign loans with capital obtained from
exports and foreign investment. Initiatives and changes like these have
improved the situation of the Mexican economy, consequently convincing
the World Bank to classify the nation as upper middle in terms of GNP per
capita. Only a few countries, like Brazil, Argentina, and Chile,
attained this status within this region.
As the Internet era arrived, industry specialists realized that
technology penetration was low and technology infrastructures weak.
These matters only made prices more expensive for everything
technology-related. Prices, combined with a low GNP per capita of
US$4,400, alienated most Mexicans.
Experts often attributed the lack of technology penetration to high
poverty levels. However, this reality can be better attributed to
purchasing power. While a medium income family earning $4,400 may be
able to afford basic necessities like food, shelter, and medical care,
the ability to support a high-tech industry (PC's, Internet service) is
very difficult with 42.5% of the population earning under $2 per day. A
middle class existence can condemn a Mexican family to miss out on the
Internet Era.
Mexico counts on an elite population that controls a significant portion
of the income. With the top 20% group controlling almost 60% of the
nation's income, they maintain the status quo. Real progress cannot be
made until this group commits to support the cause of the lower classes.
This barrier of indifference may be social, as well as economic.
Also, in recent history there has been a considerable amount of red tape
when dealing with local authorities. Jupiter Communications stated that
independent Latin American e-marketplaces that don't partner with
international marketplaces would probably run out of funding and close.
In an attempt to modernize the economy the Mexican bureaucracies have
relinquished some power to the private sector as well as to their
international partners. The percentage of the GDP produced by
state-owned enterprises has dropped from 6.7 to 4.9 from 1990 to 1997.
Foreign investment has increased dramatically from $2.6 to $10.2 billion
between 1990 and 1998. These two figures are usually indicative of
countries headed for modernization.
With modernization and urbanization comes an increase in manufacturing
and service-related industry and a decrease in agricultural labor
markets. A high percentage of the Mexican GDP is currently produced by
the manufacturing and service industries, with 21 and 68%, respectively.
The service-industry percentage is higher than in some Scandinavian
countries and closely trailing the United States (72%). The only sector
that has seen a decrease is agriculture, falling from 7 to 5% between
1990-1999.
Social Issues
In addition to economic and infrastructure barriers, distinctive social
classes feed the digital divide. Mexico, as a whole, has experienced a
rapid economic growth in the last couple of years, but the proportion of
Mexicans living in poverty has grown simultaneously. At least 28.6% of
the Mexican population is classified as poor, and the gap between the
rich and the poor has steadily increased. Currently, 70% of the
population lives in urban areas and only 30% in rural areas.
This migration from rural areas to the cities can be attributed to a lack
of job opportunities, leading people to settling in areas that were
lacking urban services. This development of urban poverty is most obvious
in the border towns. Rural poverty is closely connected with lack of
land ownership and indigenous rights. There are concerns of violations
of Universal Human Rights in regards to these issues.
In addition, the Mexican population consists approximately of 60% Mestizo
(mixed indigenous-Spanish), 30% indigenous, 9% white, and 1% other.
There is a definite racial hierarchy in Mexico that is easily observed,
but seldom acknowledged. The present day indigenous people suffer from
oppression, poverty and discrimination caused by a mind-set that
idealizes a white skin color. This is reflected in all kinds of media
and, especially, in advertising. There is reason to believe the public
education system is contributing to the augmentation of racism by
encouraging this type racial division.
Another social barrier to Internet access is the issue of education.
Based on the literacy rates (91% are literate) and the required primary
education (86% reach 5th grade), a large majority of the population has
the basic knowledge necessary to use computer technology. However, one
of the problems is that most Internet access and training in technology
occurs in universities and at higher levels of education. The majority
of the population does not have access to these institutions . Even
though college enrollment has increased from 62,000 in 1954 to 1.2
million in 1994, this still represents a small percentage of the young
population.
Conclusion
It has become apparent through our research that there is a significant
digital divide in Mexico, which might augment if not addressed
immediately. Due to inequalities in income distribution and the presence
of structural racism it is difficult for the majority of the population
to gain access to new technologies like the Internet. With 20% of the
population controlling almost 60% of the nation's income and at least 10%
of the population living in absolute poverty, the barriers to Internet
access might seem somewhat overwhelming. A monopolized telecommunications
system only adds to the division of access by creating a price structure
infeasible to the lower classes. Despite Mexico's rapid economic growth
in recent years that has classified the country as an upper middle
nation, the digital divide remains a major problem that will only add to
already-existing disparities.