Today the ICT Ministry inaugurated the 600th antenna, marking a milestone in 4G connectivity

By Mintic

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

Herveo (Tolima), October 23, 2024. (@Ministerio_TIC) – The ICT Minister arrived at the 'La Esperanza' village, 40 minutes from the urban area of Herveo on a dirt road, to inaugurate the 600th 4G antenna that this Government has put into service in the last year. This infrastructure favors the connectivity of the inhabitants of this municipality and Casabianca, both neighbors of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, an area with which last year, during the emergency due to a possible eruption, Minister Mauricio Lizcano had committed to installing 17 antennas. Today 12 are already in service, raised in record time.

“What we are experiencing today in Herveo is a historic moment, with the inauguration of the 600th antenna for Obligations to Do that we put into service in one year, and that changes the lives of the same number of communities. It is a help that we are giving throughout Colombia: a few months ago I came to these areas near the Nevado del Ruiz, and the farmers told me that they had the big problem of not having signal, nor connectivity, and if an emergency happened, it would be very difficult for them to report it. For reasons like this I committed to installing 17 antennas in this area. Today we already have 12 in operation, six in Herveo, three in Casabianca and three in Murillo. Next year we will have the totality, which will benefit thousands of people in these areas ,” said the ICT Minister, Mauricio Lizcano (@MauricioLizcano).

This connectivity is already changing lives and providing opportunities for families in the region. Luz Mery Gallego lives in El Arenillo, a village located 60 minutes from the urban center of Herveo, and together with four families, they are now an example of the power of connectivity for the popular economy. Her business, a nursery for avocado and coffee varieties, has taken on a new life thanks to the installation of this new communication infrastructure.

“Before, it was very difficult to communicate, and even more difficult to have an internet connection. Now our life has changed because from the farm we can market and offer our products to customers. Most of the time we had to go down to the village to be able to communicate, now we use this valuable time to produce and share with our families,” said Luz Mery.

The 600 4G antennas deployed throughout the country correspond to Obligations to Do, that is, they are a consideration from private mobile operators for having received a part of the 4G spectrum in the auctions that have been held in previous years. In each of these processes, coverage obligations are imposed on operators, so that they bring connectivity to all regions of the country and not only to those they consider profitable. Thanks to the management of this Ministry, operators have been installing antennas that were pending.

During this connectivity day, the signing of the agreement of wills between the ICT Ministry, the government of Tolima and Huawei Colombia for the implementation of the Internet Boards – Connectivity Communities program in the department was also carried out. The signing was led by Minister Lizcano Arango; the general secretary of the government of Tolima, Carlos Andrés Portela Calderón, and the representative of Huawei for Colombia, Zhangmingquan.

“Today we signed an agreement with Huawei, which will benefit 280 families in Tolima. We already have connectivity, now the commitment is to bring technological tools and in the coming months we will do so to eliminate the digital gaps that exist today,” explained Minister Lizcano.

This agreement will allow the deployment of fiber and technological infrastructure by the multinational company to provide access to 280 homes. The government will be responsible for providing the civil engineering and installing the tower where the radio link will be located, in addition to delivering the network to be administered and managed by the community itself. For its part, the ICT Ministry will be responsible for the appropriation of new technologies through training in legal, financial, technical and social issues to empower them and help them create a self-sustaining organization. In this way, the initiative will contribute to closing the digital gap and implementing new academic, economic and social dynamics for the beneficiaries.

It should be noted that Internet Boards is the national government program that allows communities, through Community Action Boards and Social Organizations, to provide fixed internet service to their neighbors or associates, in exchange for a social rate set by themselves. Thus, the ICT Ministry empowers grassroots social organizations and encourages closing the digital gap in the most remote territories of the country.

The event also had a space dedicated to innovation, in which Minister Lizcano signed, together with the mayor of El Espinal, Wilson Gutiérrez Montaña, the agreement for the construction and equipment of the PotencIA Center in that municipality. This center will be a space for the democratization and learning of artificial intelligence, making equipment, free Internet, training, coworking, entertainment and other ICT service alternatives available to the community.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Minister, for this work. I was telling my fellow mayors who are with us that you went to El Espinal a few months ago and promised to help us with the issue of technology, and today we see how you are fulfilling your promise. You are a minister who is fulfilling your promise to Colombia, and that is why I want to thank you for thinking about marginalized territories. I know that you will accompany us so that we can make this country the best in the world of information and communications technologies ,” said the mayor of El Espinal, Wilson Gutiérrez.

The ICT Minister's regional agenda in Tolima continues in the afternoon in Ibagué, where he will lead a couple of spaces to continue bringing connectivity, digital education and innovation to the department. Thus, from the regions, the work continues to make Colombia a Digital Power.