The Mexico City government signed an agreement Monday with a Chinese telecommunications firm that is intended to provide free wireless internet throughout the city in 2008."The capital government is giving top priority to this project," Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said at the signing ceremony on Monday. "And we hope in the coming months, and throughout this government, we will have more Chinese and Mexican engineers working together to solve our technological problems."
The network will also operate 4,000 videocameras to be installed citywide, the mayor said.
Ebrard appeared alongside Chinese executives of ZTE, the largest telecommunications supply company in China.
The idea is that ZTE will now establish a subsidiary in Mexico City that will in turn create jobs.
The agreement provides for the creation of a wireless network that can be accessed free of charge from anywhere in the capital city.
During the signing ceremony at City Hall, Mayor Ebrard presented ZTE vice president Zaisheng Wei with a replica of the Angel of Independence monument.
In reciprocation, Zaisheng gave Ebrard a traditional Chinese fan.
