The national telecommunications company, Antel, announced that it estimates to continue advancing the mobile services it offers from the reach of 500 5G points throughout the Uruguay when this year ends.
Antel celebrated its 50th anniversary with an event that highlighted the progress made so far and the goals to be met by the end of this year. In this regard, in her speech, the president of the state-owned company, Annabela Suburú, He recalled the technological evolution and progress in services experienced since the foundation of that entity in 1974.
In this regard, he stressed Antel as an absolute leader in the mobile services market, adding that the company is close to reaching 400 5G sites. Meanwhile, he said that they expect that by the end of this year, 500 points with this technology will be reached throughout the world. Uruguay.
On the other hand, he highlighted the technological advances made by the entity such as the replacement of copper with optical fibre, a process already completed, although it is intended to stop using the copper network this year, a fact that will be considered as “a milestone”.
Meanwhile, he also reported that Antel surpassed 1,000,000 internet access data services and surpassed the same figure in fixed telephony. However, he commented that they aim to make the offer of content and entertainment services more competitive.
The controversy surrounding Antel
A few weeks ago the Regulatory Unit for Services Communications (Ursec) and the legal unity of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM) They approved the merger of the cable operators Montecable, Nuevosiglo and TCC, which would mean the concentration of 53% of the Montevideo market in a single set of hands.
In response to this, Suburú assured that they are analyzing how to position themselves within the possible new scenario. “What we are analyzing and proposing is to be able to sell to this figure of cable operators, who are already many of our clients today, services that we already have and that are interurban connections and international exit,” he commented. “The last mile will be theirs, we are not giving or giving away, but we want to do business, because if Antel doesn’t do it, someone else will,” he clarified.
Regarding the possibility that this means that Antel will have fewer and fewer clients, he said that it is very possible. “But we can recover some of that in revenue, and some clients will surely choose them. We are going to do everything possible and we are going to provide all the best services in terms of quality and price, so that our clients stay with us. But we also do not have to lose other types of business. Antel has to compete with all its strength,” he said.
However, the company’s president is not the only one uncomfortable in this situation, but other political actors questioned the government’s decision. One of them was the deputy for the Broad Front in Rocha, Gabriel Tinaglini. “Access to Antel’s fiber optics by cable operators would continue to weaken the public company with multimillion-dollar losses (between 30 and 60 million dollars annually) and some large private companies would multiply their profits,” he said on his social networks.
For his part, the director of Antel for the Broad Front, Daniel Larrosa, In an interview with La Diaria, he said that “it is understandable that companies join forces to try to reduce costs and try to impose themselves beyond Antel.” “They are making their move to corner the largest market, the problem is how Antel reacts, which for the moment seems to be by collaborating,” he added.
For the leader, the creation of a model that offers coverage to 90% of Uruguayan homes “meant that there would be no competitor,” but, since it has already been opened, now the public telecommunications company does not have to “collaborate,” but rather has to “compete”.
Source: Ambito
