The Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT) suspended the Internet service that gave 35 UNAM headquarters and campuses throughout the country, according to a circular from the Directorate-General for Computing and Information and Communication Technology.
This service, which the SCT provided through the National Broadband Boost Network (NIBA Network) represented 54.24% of the internet connection capacity of the Maximum House of Studies.
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“The disconnection of the NIBA Network is already affecting us in the quality of the service, but we are supporting ourselves with the contracted links with resources of the university that are of lower capacity,” the National Autonomous University of Mexico said.
According to the circular, the government terminated the internet services contract during the school business period. The SCT informed UNAM that it is in the process of reactivating the links “through a public tender and likely to be reinstated in September”.
Although some students have already started activities, officially on August 5 begins the semester at UNAM. According to figures from the institution, next Monday, about 400 thousand university students (students, teachers, researchers and administrative workers) will return to activities, working on 14 high school campuses (nine from the National High School and Five of the College of Sciences and Humanities), as well as in the rest of the entities and dependencies located in the interior of the country.
In the meantime, UNAM reported in a statement that it had no major impacts after the disconnection of the NIBA Network and that it maintains the service with its own links, although they are of lower capacity.
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“For UNAM, as for any study house and research center, connectivity is one of the fundamental tools. Therefore, externally, its confidence that the NIBA Network will be again providing its invaluable service as soon as possible,” the University notes.
The NIBA Network provides Internet services of up to 10 Gbps in 1,300 sites, including higher education institutions, research centers, large hospitals and other relevant buildings of federal and state public agencies, according to information of the federal government.
The dependency confirms that it will be in September when the network is reactivated and the bandwidth will be expanded.
Institutions using the NIBA Network service include the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the College of Mexico, the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), ISSSTE and IMSS, among Other.
The SCT said in a statement that it maintains communication with the University about the renewal of the service contract between that unit and the suppliers, which expired on 30 June. The tender was completed on 25 July.
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