Ecuador’s state-owned operator Corporacion Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CNT) and the ISP grouping Asociacion de Proveedores de Servicios de Valor Agregados (APROSVA) have agreed a deal to gradually lower internet access prices in rural areas.
Under the agreement, CNT will offer small and medium-sized ISPs a reduction of between 25% and 33% on its current wholesale bandwidth prices. APROSVA has 200 such ISPs serving around 200,000 customers in rural areas of the country, with prices currently set at between USD9 and USD12 per 1Mbps. Boosting rural internet access is a key objective of the ‘Ecuador Digital’ strategy, designed to increase the availability of digital services in underserved areas.