Verified · Oct 20251 min read
● projectScaled · subnational · 2013
Telecomunicaciones Indígenas Comunitarias (TIC A.C.)
Federated cell phone and internet network owned by indigenous and rural communities, built and operated by the communities themselves with technical and legal support from Rhizomatica and REDES A.C.
illustrative atlas image · Benedek Dezso / UnsplashTITelecomunicaciones Indígenas Comunitarias A.C. (TIC A.C.)RRhizomaticaRPRedes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad A.C. (REDES A.C.)PBPeter BloomEHErick Huerta
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01 The context
It was born in 2013 in Talea de Castro, Oaxaca, and in 2016 it obtained Mexico's first Indigenous Social Concession to manage spectrum and operate autonomous networks. In 2024 it launched mobile virtual network operators (TIC OMV and Wiki Katat Tosepan) on the Altán wholesale network to provide 4.5G service with national coverage.
02 How it works
method · Tequio / collective work for operation and maintenancemethod · Community network management (owned and operated by the community itself)method · Regulatory advocacy for indigenous social concession and spectrum sharingtool · Low-cost cellular base stations (approx. USD 5,000)tool · Free software for cellular network management (Rhizomatica repositories)tool · Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on the Altán wholesale network
03 What it stands on
Evidence level
Own experience
Grounded in published theory
Documented evidence elsewhere
Independently evaluated here
3 published documents support this project. No independent evaluation is in the atlas yet. Know of any? Contribute it.
The evidence 3 ›
EvidenceCommunity Cellular Networks in Oaxaca, Mexico (WSIS Prizes 2019)ITU / WSIS · 2019
ContextLos rarámuri tejerán su propia red de comunicación con TIC A.C.Expansión · 2025