From north to south: VTR will connect more than one million two hundred thousand students to high-speed Internet

With the purpose of continuing to reduce the digital divide in the country and accelerate the development of technological skills and competencies in public education, VTR completed half of its plan to provide free high-speed Internet to 3,050 schools throughout Chile, within the framework of the “Connectivity for Education 2030” program. promoted jointly by the Undersecretaries of Education and Telecommunications. At the beginning of the year, the company was awarded 20 of the 54 zones delivered in 2021, which cover the enrollment of 1,297,000 students of Basic and Secondary education, distributed in seven regions of the country. Of the 3 thousand 50 establishments, one thousand 500 are located in the Metropolitan Region, which corresponds to 55% of the total schools tendered by the authority. It is followed by Valparaíso, with 749 establishments, and the region of Antofagasta, with about 200 schools. Miguel Oyonarte, Vice President of Corporate Affairs of VTR, explained the importance of this project for the company. “We have a historic commitment to expand access to connectivity technologies to as many people as possible, so ‘Connectivity for Education 2030’ is a challenge that challenges and inspires us, especially in this context of pandemic, which makes it more urgent than ever to move forward as a country towards digital integration.” In May 2022, the implementation of the plan will be completed with all the awarded schools connected. Oyonarte explained that this will be possible thanks to the versatility of the VTR network, given that the plan considers fiber optic networks, as well as HFC technology (hybrid fiber optic and coaxial cable), and wireless systems to connect those remote areas with high-speed internet. Oyonarte also mentioned that “VTR’s role will be to connect 3,050 schools, approximately one third of all the schools contemplated by the project. To date, we have one thousand 500 schools connected and the idea is that by the next school year it will be 100% connected. Both students and teachers are happy to have high-speed internet. This project is directly linked to our purpose which is to give connectivity to people so that they can transform their lives.” This year it is finalizing the entire infrastructure plan of the company, and it is also especially relevant for VTR that plans to strengthen its presence in the country by deploying an ambitious fiber optic construction plan that will allow it to reach more than 50 communes in the north, center and south of the country. In this sense, the general manager of VTR said that the extension of the network this year will end with the integration of 400,000 homepass (past houses) which will consolidate a network with 4 million homepass. “The objective of our network expansion plan is to connect areas or communities that did not have digital infrastructure, because they are in remote areas, because of rurality or vulnerability, or where there is a limited supply. We trust that in this way we will improve the quality of life of families, enterprises and in sum of local communities, “said the executive.

Original source in Spanish