In Medellin, more than 2000 people will benefit from a pilot that will bring fiber optics to commune 13

The mayor's office of Medellín reported that the city has needed several initiatives to bring high quality and speed internet connection to strata 1, 2 and 3 neighborhoods, so they are carrying out a connectivity pilot that benefits more than 2,000 people in the El Salado neighborhood (upper part) of the 13-San Javier commune.

“From the Mayor's Office of Medellín we generate social inclusion from information and communication technologies, for example, we are implementing fiber optic connectivity infrastructure in this sector, with quality internet for those 2,000 people at home, and another 500 others through two Wi-Fi points installed,” said the Secretary of Digital Innovation, Juan Sebastián González Flórez.

It is noteworthy that, according to the local administration, the two additional public points have a WI FI coverage of 100 meters around, where the times of use will be regulated to democratize access, and are located in a public dining room of Teresian nuns in the highest part of El Salado, and the other, in “La Caseta”, a high place flow of people and the supply of public transport.

The mayor's office said that “the pilot plan will be extended until May 31, 2022. This area of the city was selected because of its low network coverage and the low-income people who inhabit it, who find it difficult to access any operator. This is a first approach to the project to close the gap in access to high-quality internet for households, businesses, public entities and educational institutions.”

The administration stressed that in this project “$880 million was invested and different variables of the technology called FTTH - Fiber Optics to the Home are evaluated. Weekly, we monitor the time the internet has been active in the area, the time of failure attention, the number of incidents reported and attended, the speed of upload and download, customer satisfaction, among other variables.”

With this, what they are looking for is that through the Software Valley they can stimulate and expand the connectivity alternatives of the population, especially for families who find it difficult to pay monthly for an internet plan with an operator in the city of Medellín, as clarified by the local administration.

“I really like the pilot test of the Internet that is being done in the commune, since there are many people who benefit, can study, work and play, and with this medium there is a lot of knowledge that can be acquired,” said university student and resident of the sector, Valeria Ceballos, on the website of the Mayor's Office of Medellín .

It should be noted that, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies assured that, in Colombia, 38% of people do not use the internet and 50% of households do not. This situation is directly related to the geographical complexity of the country, which prevents the facilities of the digital age from reaching all regions.