COLOMBIA TO BE ANCHOR TENANT FOR NEW GLOBENET SUBSEA NETWORK

Earlier in the year, UNE,  the largest Internet provider and a leading full-service telecom operator in Colombia, had signed a long-term contract with GlobeNet to become the anchor tenant on a new express subsea route.  Although the announcement by GlobeNet was made back  in June 21, 2012,  what is of great relevancy is that the end of 2012  is around the corner and the international express route is scheduled for completion in 2013.

GlobeNet is extending its submarine cable network system to Colombia based on the latest in ultra-high capacity network architectures supporting 10Gbps/40Gbps/100Gbps DWDM technologies. This will create a direct express route from its future landing on Colombia’s Atlantic coast to Miami, Florida – USA.  Currently, Colombia’s international broadband capacity is provided through an anchor site in Venezuela.

The agreement coincides with UNE’s commercial operation launch in June of the first large scale 4G/LTE network in Latin America.  UNE is working on meeting its aggressive broadband Internet and 4G/LTE growth projections which will result in important benefits to thier customers.  This will provide unsurpassed international capacity to UNE’s growing customer base of finacial, network and video transport markets.  As of 2011, Colombia ranks 28th in the world for the number of fixed broadband subscriptions excluding mobile services that access the Internet.

Put into perspective that 28.8% of internet traffic in the U.S. is generated by NetFlix (video transport service), UNE is looking towards the future demands of Colombia as it integrates itself into the global digital economy.  Video streaming being a leader in service demands by customers,  the Colombian market will require the increase in bandwidth capacity to provide it’s mobile and fixed broadband customers with quality service.

There is an increase in government intiatives, like Vive Digital, to provide Internet access to all economic stratas.  Additionallay, infrastructure build-outs by other telecommunication companies to expand broadband capacity throughout the country, is signalling towards an impending boom of opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs in all markets areas that can take advantage of Internet access with high broadband capacities.