Ufinet to invest US$250mn in Ecuador

Spain’s Ufinet will invest US$150mn initially and earmark capex of US$100mn in the coming years as part of its integration into Ecuador’s Nedetel.

The corporate agreement was signed in October.

Ufinet’s investment is supported by its shareholders Cinven and Italy’s Enel, which is planning to exercise its purchase option of 79% of Ufinet for 2.1bn euros (US$2.43bn), Reuters reported. 

The Ecuador investment was announced during the visit of President Guillermo Lasso to Spain.

“We are very excited to join Nedetel to the Ufinet group and the investment made in a country like Ecuador where, in addition to the great growth opportunities in our business, we see a favorable context for a foreign investor thanks to the actions taken by the new government,” Ufinet CEO Stefano Lorenzi said in a press release.

Additionally, five datacenters will be opened in Quito, Santo Domingo, Manta, Cuenca, and Guayaquil. A tier III datacenter has already started operations in Guayaquil, the companies said previously.

Nedetel has 9,000km of fiber optics deployed and presence in 150 localities with access networks. The combination of both companies will result in a 12,000km network with multiple submarine and terrestrial departures.

Ecuador aims to boost the ICT sector, digital transformation and industry 4.0. The telecom law was reformed and a 2021-2025 opportunities plan created. 

"A country with greater transparency and equal conditions to participate in the market facilitates foreign investment, and that is what we are working on," telecoms minister Vianna Maino told BNamericas previously.