For students in rural Mexico, having internet access is essential for class- and homework. Photo: Viaxat
Viasat's Community Wi-Fi hotspot service is now available to more than one million people across Mexico. The Community Wi-Fi service is marketed locally in Mexico under the Conectaless brand, and serves thousands of rural Mexican communities.
The Community Wi-Fi service uses a centralized Wi-Fi hotspot to connect to a Viasat satellite to deliver internet service to remote communities that previously had little or no internet connectivity. The service can be deployed with minimal local infrastructure investment, and can quickly bring internet services to emerging markets where large gaps exist between demand and the affordability and availability of internet services.
In 2017, Viasat set up a commercial agreement with Grupo Prosperist, a Mexican telecommunications and technology service provider serving rural Mexico for nearly a decade. Through the arrangement, Viasat and Grupo Prosperist have successfully deployed the Community Wi-Fi service across Mexico, making affordable internet available to many of country's most remote locations. Viasat and Grupo Prosperist have continued to offer additional value-added services beyond connectivity, most recently including a pay-by-the-minute voice phone service and convenient online bill payment services.