Hot Topics Subscribe to Newsletter Tell a Friend Print this Page 08/15/2008 Mexico City Announcing Wireless Suitor for Vastly Expanded Project As far back as April 2007, Mayor Carlos Ebrard announced that Mexico City would move ahead with plans for a broadband-wireless network to make Internet access faster and more affordable for the millions of residents who live there and to improve public safety through the deployment of thousands of video-surveillance cameras. At the end of this month, the City will announce the winning bidder of its request for proposals for a network financer and implementer in a greatly expanded project now involving fiber and 8,000 video cameras, said Sam Podolsky, President of the City's Council of Competitiveness and Economic Development. Podolsky provided a project update to W2i Executive Director Daniel Aghion. Daniel Aghion: What’s the status of your project since you spoke about it at the W2i Digital Cities Convention in Chicago in May 2007? Sam Podolsky: We’re right now calling it Ciudad Digital Integral — the “Integrated Digital City” — and it contains four parts. First is the digital city — Mexico — which means the wireless coverage of the city. Second is the País Centenário — the bicentennial project of security — which includes more than 8,000 cameras and the most sophisticated applications for technology and security through electronics. This includes voice, cameras, video and also parking — all kinds of services. Third is the fiber-optic infrastructure in the city using our subway facilities. We have more than 200 km of subway and will reach 230 km over the next two years. This brings the bandwidth and makes it a fantastic input into the project. The fourth has to do more with our applications and the concept of e-government that has been applied in the most sophisticated cities. We decided to create a commission where we’re working together to see how we can integrate this into the Ciudad Digital Integral. Mayor Ebrard is really investing all his efforts to bring Mexico City to state-of-the art in all these areas. Aghion: The project has considerably evolved from inception, when the motives were to drive the competitiveness of the City, creating alternative delivery methods to bring down the cost of broadband and, if I recall correctly, to bring it to a broader range of the population. But we know now that digital inclusion is a difficult primary driver because someone has to pay for all this. It seems a huge effort has been pooled to drive a variety of functional agencies throughout the city government to conceptualize and express their needs and bring forth some funding mechanisms that deal with public safety, interoperability and then the ultimate goal of providing government services, leveraging this to expand the reach of broadband to the general population. Podolsky: I would also add the issue of education, bringing Internet into every single school. The fiber backbone here is critical. We’re probably going to have this next to our subway facilities, for security reasons, for the bandwidth only. We have healthcare needs, monitoring the air and water. Whenever we find something new, it becomes easy to add when you have such a dimension. We’re having meetings with all the government areas and discussing new alternatives for new users. Aghion: What’s the timetable? Podolsky: The subway edition will be finished by 2010. The bicentennial will be over by 2011. Next year, we celebrate 200 years of independence…. Right now the project is self-funded. There’s a public bid on the market to take over the financing and implementation. It’s open to every single national or international supplier, service provider or integrator. It’s a tremendous investment. The government right now is providing the funds — the capex will come from the government — but we are developing a business model based on new government services that can be optimized. The bid will conclude by the third week of August. We have a short list, and we’ll announce the winner before the end of August. Aghion: What do you view as the biggest challenge? Podolsky: It’s to finalize the business model. We’d also like to see the license of the band issued to us by the central government and, if possible, to obtain income. COFITEL is holding back. The response that Mexico City gets is the response that everyone gets. We have almost 30% of the GNP here in Mexico City; 61% of foreign investment comes to Mexico City, so Mexico City is a tremendous mover. I think they’re looking for ways that work for everyone. We agree with them. There’s a very friendly relationship with COFITEL and with the Ministry of Communication and Transportation. It’s been in the interest of the City, the way they have been responding. Aghion: For a year, you did consult with private-sector and public-sector stakeholders to refine your project. What’s been the most helpful? Podolsky: Believe it or not, the operators themselves. The mayor has been very close to this project — it is his project. He deserves credit for the tremendous advance we have had. He’s been pushing for this. Everyone is involved now. Aghion: it’s a big step forward. How is the pilot project in the city center doing? Podolsky: It’s totally wireless — 1 MB down, 240 KB up. It’s working beautifully. We’re waiting for the mayor to inaugurate it. You walk around the Zócalo…it’s truly wireless. Aghion: How did video surveillance become such a big part of the project. Podolsky: You need bandwidth, and we changed our view with respect to the size of the project. It’s such a huge city. Traffic is an issue. Quality of life is an issue. We have earthquakes in Mexico, and security is an important issue. During the 1985 earthquake Mayor Ebrard was a key official, and he wants to finish his work by leaving Mexico City the as secure a city as possible. He wants to cover wireless from every point of view. If something breaks, he wants it still to be running. back Related Items: • Beaverton, OR • W2i Finalizes Program Agenda for Digital Cities Convention in Washington, DC • Bowling Green (KY) Launches Public Safety Wi-Fi • Interoperability Grants — An Opportunity for Tomorrow, If You Know Where to Look Today! • Government Processes Reengineering Roundtable: Summary • WEBINAR: Wireless Video Surveillance at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions Comments No records were found. Post new comment: Only registered users can add comments. Please Log-in

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