Business News Americas' Colin Bennett reports today that Mexican electronics, telecom and IT association Canieti "sees the entry of WiMax services as a key factor in improving the country's broadband penetration rate and is now the primary focus of the industry organization."

"Mobile broadband technology, such as WiMax, is a much less costly option for the installation of telecoms infrastructure than a wired installation... [as much as] eight times less," says Canieti's regional director for the southern and central regions Roberto Martínez.

And there's a real need -- according to the OECD, Mexico had a broadband penetration rate of 3.5% at the end of 2006.