Claro advances with fiber optics deployment in Colombia

Telecom firm Claro has deployed its fiber optics network to the Colombian municipalities of Guasca, Aguazul, Carepa, Chigorodó and Roldanillo.

The network covers around 40,500 homes and businesses in the municipalities, Claro said in a press release.

At the end of August, Claro said it had fiber coverage in 115 locations. It is investing US$25mn to reach its goal of 162,000 homes passed.

Since the announcement in August, Claro has extended the network to 39,300 homes and businesses in the municipalities of Pitalito, Aguachica and Gachancipa, and 7,000 homes in El Rosal, among other locations.

At the end of June, Claro was the biggest operator of fixed internet services in Colombia with 3.2mn connections, followed by Tigo’s 1.7mn and Telefónica with 1.2mn, according to the latest figures from sector regulator CRC.

Colombia had a total of 8.56mn fixed internet accesses, up 3.2% from end-June 2021.Cable dominated with 59.4%, followed by fiber at 24.4%. The trend is fiber gaining ground as accesses increased 27.4% in the 12 months through June, to 2.1mn.

In October, Claro parent company América Móvil said modernization projects for Latin America included the migration of its plant to fiber optics and upgrading the cable network to Docsis 3.1, which will enable higher broadband speeds. Between September 2021 and the same month last year, the company added 7.5mn homes passed with fiber optics globally.