This Friday, the president of ANTEL, Gabriel Gurméndez, visited the department of Tacuarembó to inaugurate the new infrastructure.
In Paso Bonilla, the antenna is located in Sectional 13; while in Sauce de Batoví, in school No. 53, thanks to an agreement signed with the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP).
Connectivity to 90 locations
Gurméndez highlighted that the initiative is part of one of the company’s strategic projects since the beginning of the current Board of Directors’ management, to bring connectivity to 90 locations in the deep rural interior of the country.
The project, which began in Paso del Cerro in Tacuarembó and has more than 50 connected towns, seeks to “correct a great inequity and generate equal opportunities, because today connectivity is life itself,” he said.
“This dramatic inequality meant that the inhabitants of these towns could not access the benefits of teleworking, distance education or health during the pandemic,” remarked the head of the telecommunications company.
He added: “Uruguay was not giving them the same equal opportunities, which was always ours. So, ANTEL is complying with correcting this lag, which is a very strong clamor in the interior”.
This will also contribute to “the new generations continuing to be rooted in the rural environment”.
Fiber optics to Iporá and San Gregorio
So far, in the department of Tacuarembó, connectivity has been provided to Paso del Cerro, Punta de Cinco Sauces, Las Toscas de Caraguatá, Cuchilla de Peralta, Montevideo Chico and Tambores.
Gurméndez announced that this year the fiber optic works will begin in the Iporá resort and in San Gregorio de Polanco. In addition, mobile connectivity will be brought to Rincón de Zamora, Paso de los Novillos and Cerro del Pastoreo.
“ANTEL was not reaching these places and we want to be there, because our obligation as a public company is to arrive with the service, with the telecommunications connection and try to provide an adequate service, of good quality and at a good price. Our resources, our focus, our investment and our dedication have to be on that and not get distracted by other things that are not relevant and essential,” he said.
Correct inequities
For his part, the mayor of Tacuarembó Wilson Ezquerra highlighted the “importance of connectivity for the inhabitants of Paso Bonilla and Sauce de Batoví.”
He thanked the president of ANTEL for meeting the “needs of the deep interior, which allow correcting some inequities.”
In his opinion, the installation of radio bases makes it possible for children, workers, retirees and pensioners “to have the opportunity to be connected to the world.”
“Many times in Montevideo, from a desk, this reality is not known. Many times deaf ears are turned, because we are few or we do not influence the great volume of the 3.5 million inhabitants of Uruguay. But, today, the thousand or so people who are going to access connectivity are going to live another reality”, he pointed out.
