the company of telecommunications Dominican Altice began the deployment of its new 5G network in the Dominican capital in the Colonial City for a reason that would seem poetic: because it was where it all began. Thus it seeks to convert “the oldest city in the New World into the first smartcity (intelligent city)”.
The company’s intention is to start from here -and from its other points in the Monument to the Heroes and the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, in Santiago- to roll out the 5G experience throughout the country and make communities smarter in technological and hyperconnected terms.
With the presence of President Luis Abinader, In the past week Dominican Altice launched its 5G network, with which it offers higher browsing speed, with up to 1 gigabits per second; and lower latency, that is, the response time of a request within the network can be up to a millisecond.
This technology -of which the Dominican Republic is the last country in which the company implements it where it has a presence- will also allow customers to interact with high-definition content, improve their video game experience, use augmented reality applications, experience better with their mobiles in massive events and massive simultaneous connection of teams.
“It is planned in five years, at least, to cover 30 percent of the Dominican population,” projects Ana Figueiredo, CEO of Dominican Altice.
“During the pandemic, many companies had to adapt and use technological tools and the internet so as not to disappear”CEO of Altice Dominican
During her participation in the Free Dialogue section of this newspaper, the Portuguese executive explained that the 5G technology, as it is being launched in many countries, is still about data and not about minutes to make a phone call. To make a voice call, you switch to 4G or other older technology.
However, he predicted a growing need for users to require advanced technology such as the 5G network. He observed that the line of services that shot up the most during the pandemic was the internet: mobile network connectivity and the fixed network.
“After the pandemic, companies are depending more on platforms to offer their services and this has caused them to demand more service. During the pandemic, many companies had to adapt and use technological tools and the internet in order not to disappear,” he said.
He observed that the consumption in minutes that was made about six years ago in the 2G and 3G networks was increasing. He compared the current preference between calls made traditionally and through WhatsApp and other types of platforms. The latter consume a lot of network resources. “And for this reason, the more people connect, the more demand increases,” said Figueiredo.
“There is still a sea of growth opportunities, so we see that there are, obviously, investment possibilities”CEO of Altice Dominican
The executive considers that in the Dominican Republic there is an opportunity to continue growing in the sector telecommunications in the business sector, especially due to the increase in digitization during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The first users of the 5G technology they will be companies, from agriculture, the transport industry, logistics…”, Figueiredo projects. He gave as an example that, by deploying a set of 5G antennas, agricultural monitoring can be done through drones that measure parameters to make cultivation more efficient. “There is still a sea of growth opportunities, so we see that there are, obviously, investment possibilities.”
He indicated that the speed with which the 5G network is deployed will also depend on the demand of business customers – whether large or SMEs – or individuals and users.
The study “MSMEs in the Dominican Republic: digital acceleration and paradigm shift”, carried out by Microsoft, found that eight out of 10 micro, small and medium-sized companies in the Dominican Republic consider that the pandemic accelerated their digital transformation process. In addition, six out of 10 consider that streamlining the operation or productivity is the main opportunity provided by technology.
“During the pandemic, companies requested greater connectivity, greater redundancy of their services, digitization of their platforms -depending on the sector- and cyber security and risk mitigation,” Figueiredo highlighted.
The projected investment for Dominican Altice amounts to RD$5,000 million in the first five years of deployment of the 5G network. The coverage expansion plan contemplates its implementation in the main municipalities of the country, reaching up to 60% of its population.
Russian-Ukrainian context
Figueiredo, who is also president of the Board of Directors of the Association of Foreign Investment Companies (Asiex), considers that it is still too early to measure the impact of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on business investments. However, she understands that there may be some companies that are considering pausing and seeing how the macroeconomic situation evolves. “But I don’t think that in the short term it can impact any investment in the country,” she estimated. She observed that, when you want to make a foreign investment, you look for a territory with political and economic stability, without a social crisis and with an economic and regulatory environment that invites investment and reinvestment. “More than 50 percent of the companies that are here, foreigners, reinvest their profits here,” she stressed.
