Santa Fe province – an area in northeastern Argentina – is to get a massive fibre boost after the government of the country approved the start of the Santa Fe + Conectada programme, which aims to deploy almost 4,000 kilometres of fibre optics.
It seems that the country’s provincial Chamber of Deputies has given the green light to a $100 million loan deal with Latin American development bank CAF to finance the planned Santa Fe + Conectada programme. The rest of the total investment of $125 million will be supplied by the province itself.
Santa Fe + Conectada aims to expand and modernize the communications infrastructure of the province to improve regional connectivity, promote digital inclusion and educational transformation, and reduce technological, production and gender gaps. Sustainable development will also be part of the programme.
The installation of fibre optics is a big part of this effort. Under the programme, internet coverage will be offered to 365 provincial towns. Of these, 200 will be connected with broadband and 165 through radio links. The programme is expected to take about four years.
According to the Santa Fe government, 72 percent of schools do not have an internet connection and 54 percent of the province’s students are educated in these institutions.
As part of the initiative, another tender – to provide Wi-Fi connectivity to a group of populous neighbourhoods in the province's capital city, also called Santa Fe, and the port city of Rosario – has already been launched.