Indotel will bring broadband internet to 26 poor municipalities in the country

Indotel press release

This is a machine translation of the original press release issued in Spanish

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel), with the support of the Administrative Ministry of the Presidency, the Dominican Federation of Municipalities (FEDOMU) and the Dominican Municipal League (LMD), presented the project "Improvement of Connectivity for Digital Transformation” to the authorities of 26 municipalities in the country that do not have fixed networks for internet access, in order to provide connectivity to said demarcations.

The project presented consists of the deployment of internet access networks nationwide, specifically fiber optic networks to homes.

Additionally, training programs in digital skills will be carried out for the inhabitants of the selected municipalities, mostly from the South region and the border area.

In addition, the public institutions of said demarcations will benefit from free internet.

It would be implemented in the municipalities of Guayabal, Tabara Arriba, Yayas de Viajama, Pueblo Viejo, in Azua; Los Ríos, in Bahoruco; Las Salinas, Jaquimeyes, Polo, La Ciénaga, Fundación, in Barahona; Restoration and Pino, in Dajabón; Bánica, Pedro Santana, El Llano, Hondo Valle and Juan Santiago, in Elías Piña; La Descubierta, Postrer Río, Mella, Cristóbal, in Independencia; Oviedo, in Pedernales; Los Cacaos, in San Cristóbal; Rancho Arriba, in San José de Ocoa; Vallejuelo and Boechio, in San Juan de la Maguana.

The telecommunications regulatory body requested the commitment of the mayors to process the requests in an agile manner and to assume the corresponding arbitrations for the deployment of connectivity.

The activity was led by the administrative minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza, the president of the Indotel Board of Directors, Nelson Arroyo; the executive director of the regulatory body, Julissa Cruz; the presidents of FEDOMU and the LMD, Kelvin Cruz and Víctor D'Aza.

The president of the Indotel Board of Directors, Nelson Arroyo, highlighted the importance of connectivity today and pondered that this project will improve the lives of Dominicans in these communities.

“During the pandemic, all of us experienced how imperative connectivity is. We have chosen 26 municipalities that lack fixed connectivity and that need it to be able to take steps forward in their development. Nowadays, connectivity is not a luxury, but a necessity”, stated the head of the telecommunications regulatory body.

Arroyo stressed that this is a priority of the government of President Luis Abinader, which is set out in decree 539-20, dated October 7, 2020, which declares the essential right of universal access to Broadband Internet of high national interest. latest generation and the productive use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

On his side, the president of FEDOMU and mayor of La Vega, Kelvin Cruz, stressed that the municipality must contribute to the implementation of this project in each of the chosen territories.

“The activity that brings us together today marks a milestone for the country and especially for the Dominican municipality. This is the starting point for the implementation of the connectivity project for Digital Transformation, whose goal is that by the end of this year 2022 all the country's municipalities have quality internet access," Cruz said.

Likewise, the president of the LMD, Víctor D'Aza, motivated the members of the municipality to work together with the institutions involved.

“The municipalities are part of the Dominican State, so their support is essential in what is the release of excise taxes. This is a project that will have an impact on the security and development of the municipalities”, detailed D'Aza.

During the act held in the Green Room of the National Palace, the mayors promised to support the project, which will benefit more than 250,000 households in the selected demarcations.

“This is a project that will benefit more than 250,000 households, which will be able to take advantage of all the benefits that the internet and new technologies allow. Through Indotel and the collaboration of each one of you (mayors) we will be closer to closing the digital gap”, highlighted the executive director of Indotel, Julissa Cruz.

The presentation of the project was given by Jorge Roques, director of the Executive Unit Directorate of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Also present were the member of the Indotel Board of Directors, Príamo Ramírez; the Administrative Vice Minister of the Presidency, Juan Garrigó Mejía, of Social and Community Management; and Ovi Saldívar, Vice Ministers of Institutional Affairs.