Infrastructures and Security News UMIC to Meet with all Community Broadband Network Promoters UMIC to Meet with all Community Broadband Network Promoters
- 07/07/2008
The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) has organised a meeting on 9 July 2008 from 14:00 to 17:30 at Taguspark with all the promoters of the projects within the Broadband Community Networks, that is, the municipal authorities within the areas involved. These networks all are currently under construction. The objective of the meeting is to exchange information on solutions found and the progress and difficulties encountered in carrying out the projects, plus reflection on how to plan future activities.
Taken as a whole, the projects aim to construct networks of over one thousand kilometres of fibre-optic cable and include the first New Generation Networks built in Portugal, which enable very high broadband connections and services supported by fibre-optics, namely between 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps.
The Broadband Community Networks are public broadband networks in less well-off areas or where there are gaps in the telecommunications market. They have to show economic sustainability and provide equal access to all operators in tenders opened for their running. They have to make it possible to take advantage of existing infrastructures belonging to municipal water, or similar, companies, and may complement communications infrastructures set up as part of Digital Cities and Digital Regions projects in regions which meet the aforementioned criteria for these types of networks.
There are currently underway four Broadband Community Networks projects: the District of Évora, Terra Quente Transmontana, Vale do Minho and Vale do Lima, covering a total area of over 1 000 Km and a total investment of 34 million Euros.
This network was approved following a public tender to support the design and construction of this type of Networks, which was opened in 2006 through the Knowledge Society Operational Programme (POSC), an entity run by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. They are co-financed by FEDER and should be completely by the end of this year.
The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) set up and operates the Technical Support Commission (CAT), which was established to help individuals with the application process and to monitor implementation of the projects that are approved, including on-going activities of coordinating and monitoring projects.
The main objectives of the Broadband Community Networks are to fight e-exclusion, promoting equal opportunities and universal public broadband access in their region, to rectify asymmetries in telecommunications accessibility, and to develop entrepreneurial technological and scientific initiatives in their region. They generally connect the municipal offices of the municipalities concerned, public buildings and buildings of public interest, higher educational institutions, technological centres and industrial areas and estates.
The District of Évora Community network project was launched on 8th May 2008 with the signing of the respective construction contracts at a public ceremony presided over by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago.