The Dominican Republic Telecommunications Institute (Indotel) has announced the deployment of 3,124km of fiber-optic cables in the northern and western regions of the country, according to Listin Diario. The government plans to spend US$64 million over a period of five years on a fiber-optic backbone, in order to extend the network to 28% of the population, mainly in the southern provinces. Indotel’s director Gideon Santos revealed that Spanish-based Idom has been contracted to lay 1,723km of cables over three years, with an additional 505km to be deployed across a five-year period. The Dominican Electricity Transmission Company (ETED) will provide an additional 896km worth of infrastructure over a five-year period.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in October 2008 the regulator announced that it expected the country’s national fiber-optic backbone network to be completed by end-2010, providing broadband services to at least 90% of territory. However, by April 2011, the tender was yet to be launched, with the government announcing that it hoped to select a supplier by the end of 2011. The latest development came in February 2012 when Indotel approved a number of development projects to be included in its 2012-2013 Biennial Plan.
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