Uruguay's Antel hoping to connect 80k homes with fibre by year-end

Uruguay’s state-owned telecoms operator Antel is aiming to connect 80,000 homes with Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) by the end of this year, according to BNamericas, quoting the telco’s convergence services manager Humberto Roca.

Roca added that the company is initially targeting higher-income areas in the capital city of Montevideo, but will also make FTTH connections available to a broader swath of the population at a later date. Anatel is reportedly planning to invest over US$100m in its FTTH project next year, and Chinese firm ZTE has been named as the project’s technology partner.

Antel is the main provider of ADSL broadband services in Uruguay though its subsidiary AntelData, with competition remaining rather limited as it holds a monopoly over the country’s telecoms infrastructure.

The telco launched its Next-Generation Network last summer, and reportedly plans to use the new network to offer new services to residential and business customers, and especially to small and medium enterprises, such as video calls to both fixed-line and mobile devices.

The Uruguayan government announced its Cardales (convergence) Plan in late 2008, which aims to bring triple-play services (including IPTV) to all Uruguayans by the end of 2013, leveraging the country’s existing infrastructure.

Telmex is also building out a fibre network in Montevideo, but its commercial viability is being severely hamstrung by the Uruguayan government’s refusal to grant a licence for the provision of triple-play services in the country.