INTERDirec and ViaSat - Reaching across a nation to provide education and communications, including the largest videoconferencing network in Latin America.

On the eve of Presidential Elections in Mexico in July 2000, one of the main declarations of the candidates was to grant Mexican children the opportunity to learn the English language and have access to information networks through Local Community Centers. But making this project feasible in the short term was a real challenge when presented with a population dispersed into so many graphically remote locations.

Following the election of Vicente Fox, the Secretary of Communications and Transportation received a Presidential assignment: to develop a system capable of linking not only the children, but also their parents, to the Internet and other sources of information and knowledge. Additional goals for e-Mexico are to develop Mexico's IT and communications (ITC) industry, foster an internal market for ITC products, promote an adequate regulatory framework for the use of electronic media and e-commerce, and digitize government services.

In mid-2002 the government opened a domestic public tender for companies to bid for the best-suited, price-performance network to complete phase I of the overall project, the connection of 3,200 remote "from digital community centers." The overall objective of e-Mexico is to build a national IT network that will connect over 90% of Mexico's population with electronic services for distance learning, internet access, government, health, and commerce.

Internet Directo, a private ISP company owned by Carlos Peralta and IUSA group started an evaluation program to find the technology partner to share responsibility for the success of the biggest wireless networking project ever in Mexico. The main objective was to offer local Internet access at a very low price: US$ 40.00 per month, per site. PanamSat had already agreed to provide free satellite Ku-band space segment on its Galaxy 3C satellite, with a footprint covering all of Mexico. INTERDirec considered its alternatives in going with modern DVB/RCS technology from ViaSat or older platforms with larger installed bases. Following a demonstration of ViaSat's LinkStar broadband VSAT, INTERDirec officials commented, "The economically agile return links caught our eyes immediately and after extensive field tests in several sites LinkStar was never matched; no one came close."

On Dec 4, 2002 INTERDirec and ViaSat were chosen to provide services for e-Mexico, a project that is expected to become a landmark for the communications history of Mexico. On January 17 the e-Mexico System was inaugurated by Mr. Pedro Cerisola, Communications Secretary of Mexico.

The installation of the service began almost immediately with service already rolling out by mid-January. Baseband equipment and remote stations were shipped to reach the milestone as well. Install crews deployed a 9-meter antenna hub in Mexico City. As of mid-June, over 3,200 remote sites were installed. The single hub can manage up to 4,000 remotes The network is using two separate transponders on Galaxy 3C. The outbound DVB-S stream from the hub to remotes occupies a full 27 MHz transponder and the inbound return channels from the remotes have bandwidth-on-demand access to another 17 MHz. A frequency-hopping feature built into LinkStar chooses the best available carrier based on network demand, providing a 50% improvement in data throughput according to INTERDirec.

The success of the project has been immediate. By early 2004, daytime hours saw a constant 24 Mbytes of traffic transiting the network resulting from nearly 5 million page views per week. "We have actively participated since 1957 in the development of the telecommunications of our country in support of the productive sectors as well as for small isolated communities. Now, taking advantage of modern satellite technologies, we can offer connectivity for the National e-Mexico System to the Digital Community Centers to facilitate access to Internet services, distance learning and medical programs," said Mr. Peralta.

LinkStar is a hub-based VSAT system that provides two-way, broadband-on-demand services with more efficiency and higher data rates than other satellite networks. Remote LinkStar terminals in the e-Mexico network receive data from a single, 29 megabit-per-second (Mbit/s) carrier broadcast from the access hub, and transmit back to the hub at either 128 or 256 kbit/s (3.3 Mbit/s max possible).

The ultimate goal of e-Mexico is to build and connect 10,000 Digital Community Centers to a national network, benefiting more than 98% of the population of Mexico by 2025. With the e-Mexico infrastructure expected to increase Internet users in Mexico from 4.5 million to 60 million, two additional phases, each adding 2,000 sites, are being planned.

"We know we have many challenges ahead," said Manuel Cerrillo, director general of INTERDirec. "But the effort will all be worth it if we can contribute to the smile of a child with a brighter future."

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