Broadband for the whole country
Monday, June 26, 2006
On the day that the Portugal Telecom Group announced 1 million broadband clients, the country connected to Canhestros, in Ferreira do Alentejo, to watch the activation of the last stations and complete 100% central stations and 99% of broadband clients
“It is the arrival of the highway in the Internet connection”… were the words with which the Prime Minister, José Sócrates, defined the extension of broadband to all the country.
As of 26th June 2006 the whole national territory will be covered by an infrastructure that allows all citizens to connect to broadband Internet. This way, PT has now 100% Central Stations and 99% of its clients with broadband coverage. The remaining 1%, who are in remote places and of difficult access, are covered thanks to the new technology developed by PT Inovação - picoDSLAM.
Hundreds of residents were present at the event in Canhestros
According to Henrique Granadeiro, Chairma of the PT Group, “this simple gesture in a small place deep down in the Alentejo region has a symbolic meaning and it is of irreversible importance. Canhestros is today the symbol of the global society in which we are connected and with which we connect in real time”, he explained.
José Sócrates also agrees on this point and adds that “broadband is also a technology that unites the country and eliminates the geographic border.”
Since 1999, when Netcabo was launched, the PT Group has already invested over Euro 2 billion in broadband. In the last ten years PT has invested four times the investment forecasted for the Ota airport and more than seven times the investment for the Vasco da Gama Bridge. Figures which have demonstrated the bet on the development of the information society in Portugal.
This way, Portugal is now in the front line with the other three countries of the European Union that have total broadband coverage and it is also in the front line of the five countries that offer the most accessible price which is two and a half times cheaper than the price in the country next door.
Two important moments were the celebration of the protocol and the live connection to the network centre
The protocol was signed by Rodrigo Costa, Chairman of PT Comunicações and Paulo Campos, Secretary of State for Public Works and Communications. According to Rodrigo Costa, “the most difficult target has been reached, now we just have to maintain and improve it. But today we are very proud of the success attained”. The Secretary of State also added that “this was one of the government’s objectives which has now been reached. This way the doors for all Portuguese to access knowledge are open”.
The Minister of Public Works and Communications, the Mayor of the Ferreira do Alentejo Town Council, the Mayor of the Parish of Canhestros and many citizens were present at the ceremony.
Henrique Granadeiro, Chairman of Portugal Telecom and José Sócrates, Prime Minister
Henrique Granadeiro highlighted the university, laboratory and corporate centre of Aveiro, and said that, “it is the capacity of researching and experimental development and a determining and factor that contributed toward the achieved objectives.”
José Sócrates “congratulated PT for having reached all the objectives established for this year. This fact demonstrates the capacity of this big company”, he said at the close of the ceremony.
Directly connected to the network centre, the activation of each station was carried out. Now our country is totally connected to broadband which is more modern and much better.
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