The Minister for Territorial Cohesion said today, April 5, that the Government is waiting for authorization from the European Commission to make an investment of 300 million euros in fiber optic infrastructure to cover the entire national territory.
«Unfortunately, our country is still not 100% equipped with digital connectivity. I guarantee that we are only waiting for the [Government] authorization from the European Commission to do what Alexandre [Fonseca, Co-CEO of Grupo Altice Internacional and Chairman of Altice Portugal and Altice USA] said a little while ago, to make a co-investment”, said Ana Abrunhosa .
The Minister of Territorial Cohesion was speaking, in Guarda, at the closing session of the conference “Guarda – Levers for Sustained Economic Development”, held within the scope of the municipal initiative “Conferences of Guarda”.
In her speech, Ana Abrunhosa recalled that on the coast operators have a market to invest in infrastructure, but in the interior this «is not profitable», so, when there is no incentive for the market, «the State must make that investment or it must subsidize the private sector to make this investment".
He went on to say that, with the help of the operators, the regulatory body, the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), "has already carried out a survey of all areas where there is no signal".
«We have already put up the public consultation, twice, this map of the territory where there is no sign of quality and we are in public consultation [with] the terms of reference for the international public tender», he added.
According to the minister, this involves «an investment that exceeds 300 million euros and that will be 50% financed with European funds».
«Now, for that, we must have authorization from the European Commission. It turns out that the community regulation has changed. And we are, at this moment, the first country to apply for authorization, because of State aid, to be able to carry out this international competition », he said.
The holder of the Territorial Cohesion portfolio continued: «we believe that when we have, shortly, authorization from the European Commission, we will launch the international public tender» that will allow covering the country with fiber optics.
«If we add to the 5G competition, in a short time we will have the country covered with fixed and mobile digital connectivity. This will put the whole territory on an equal footing», he concluded.
Ana Abrunhosa also referred to digitization in her speech, admitting that it will bring challenges to the country, because “it can put territories on an equal footing”.
«That is, with digitization, and as long as we have the guarantee that we have the infrastructure, the city of Guarda is on an equal footing with other cities», he observed.
At the conference, “Guarda – Leverages for Sustained Economic Development”, held today at Sala António de Almeida Santos, in the Paços do Concelho da Guarda building, with the participation of several guest speakers, topics such as “The role of the academy in the development of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem”, “The importance of next generation networks in attracting investment and retaining people” and “Technology and innovation as plan A and B for economic growth”.
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