Infrastructures and Security News One of the First Next Generation Networks in Portugal Presented at Évora One of the First Next Generation Networks in Portugal Presented at Évora
- 15/07/2009
The Association of Municipalities of the District of Évora and the partnership set up to develop the “Broadband Community Network for the Évora District” officially presented this Next Generation Network on 15 July 2009 in a session which took place at the new premises of the University of Évora. Present at the session was the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago. The same session was combined with a ceremony to inaugurate the Colégio dos Leões (Antiga Fábrica dos Leões), and included a presentation on the new University site which will house teaching and research work in the Visual Arts, Multimedia, Design and Architecture.
The session was preceded by the colloquium “Next Generation Networks at the Service of Regional Development” in which Graça Simões, a Member of the Board of Directors of The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) participated, and which marked the conclusion of the project to design and construct the Évora District Community Network. This Community Network was mainly constructed during the second half of 2008, and consists of around 600 Km of fibre-optic cable linked to each of the 14 municipal centres in the Évora District and in areas where businesses are located. This network has two connection points to the Science, Technology and Society Network (RCTS), which for ten years ensured a broadband connectivity to the scientific and higher educational communities. This is the 1st Next Generation Network in operation in Portugal, and is joined to the Évora municipal wideband network, built as part of the Digital Cities and Digital Regions project, Digital Évora District. The design and construction stage of this Community Network project was launched at a ceremony presided over by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, which took place on 8 May 2008 (see Évora District with Next Generation Network).
The “Broadband Community Network for the Évora District” is one of the first four Next Generation Networks in rural areas which have been sponsored by public entities through the support of The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and co-financed by community funds (FEDER) through the Knowledge Society Operational Programme (POSC). It was mainly constructed during the second half of 2008. These four areas are: Évora District, Terra Quente Transmontana, Vale do Minho and Vale do Lima ,which together form a fibre-optic cable network more than 1 200 Km in length, with active equipment to enable an operating speed of 10 Gbps and which has involved a total investment of 34 million Euros. The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) set up and is responsible for the Technical Support Commission (CAT), in which the Management Office of POSC is also involved, under the scope of which permanent coordination and monitoring activities for projects are carried out. The following illustrations chart the progress of the indicators of several projects. These indicators are updated weekly while the projects are being carried out.
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At a time when operators are taking the first decisive steps towards the Next Generation Networks questions related to the investment in these and the management models for this type of network have been an object of discussion. The 1st Next Generation Networks of the Country are Available for the Scientific and Higher Educational Communities in 4 Rural Areas, and were promoted by public entities through the support of The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and co-financed by community funds (FEDER) through POSC: The Science Technology and Society Network (RCTS) of the Foundation for National Scientific Computation (FCCN) (see FCCN Presents Recent RCTS Developments), in e-Science, and the Next Generation Community Networks, in e-Inclusion.
Portugal is showing clear signs of being ready for Next Generation Networks expansion. In actual fact, between 2005 and 2008:
- Broadband penetration into households doubled, reaching 39%.
- Broadband penetration among the population virtually tripled, reaching 33%.
- Internet use by students and people with secondary education or higher is very high - 97%, 87% and 91% respectively. These figures are comparable to those in Scandinavian countries.
- Internet use among people who have not finished secondary school rose 57%, standing now at 26%.