Sixty-five percent of Puerto Rico residents have yet to adopt broadband — whether fixed or mobile — dragging significantly behind the U.S. mainland’s average.
The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council recently weighed in on Puerto Rico’s lagging broadband availability and use, saying the U.S. and the Federal Communications Commission have the responsibility of helping the island move forward in deployment and consumer adoption.
Critical Hub Networks officially kicked off the deployment of the Puerto Rico Bridge Initiative’s islandwide microwave network this month, initiating the final phase of the broadband project, company officials announced.
Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi told members of Congress Tuesday Puerto Rico needs to “have the correct policies in place, on both the federal and local level, to enable households and businesses … to access and adopt high-speed Internet and other modern telecommunications services at affordable rates.”
Wireless products and services are a powerful agent of social change that give billions of people around the world, including Puerto Rico, with anytime, anywhere access, according to a recent report by BSR and commissioned by CTIA-The Wireless Association.
Some $180 million that Puerto Rico receives in funding assigned annually through the Federal Communications Commission could be at risk due to the methodologies the agency is implementing to phase out the Universal Service Program and usher in its replacement, the Connect America Fund.
The Puerto Rico Broadband Task Force, a 12-member public-private coalition organized a year ago, is laying the foundation to more than double current broadband adoption levels across the island to at least 70 percent by 2015, up from the current 31 percent, and expedite a significant increase in download speeds within the next five to eight years.
Puerto Rico’s main broadband providers recently took part in the “IPv6 Workshop for Broadband Providers to begin preparing for the island’s transition to IPv6 — the next generation Internet Protocol.
Wireless telecommunications service and broadband provider Neptuno Networks recently moved its headquarters into a new 24,000 square-foot building in Metro Office Park in Guaynabo, following a $3 million investment, company president Pedro Andrés said.
The Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company’s board approved a $1.6 million assignment to the Central Eastern Technological Initiative, to match federal funding granted by the U.S. National Telecommunication and Information Administration to expand broadband access to economically disadvantage communities in the region, Economic Development and Commerce José Pérez-Riera, who also heads Pridco, said Monday.
Critical Hub Networks announced Wednesday the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s approval of a route change for the Puerto Rico Bridge Initiative’s (PRBI) islandwide network, as well as the expansion of the network’s interconnection points from 16 to 24.
Wireless carrier AT&T will be sponsoring for the first time in Puerto Rico its Youth for Broadband Awareness Literacy & Education program, looking to offer technology and computer training to youth through a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club. The event will take place in Carolina, Dec. 1-2, News is my Business learned.
Luquillo-based Liberty Cablevision announced Tuesday the arrival of broadband download speeds of between 20 megabits per second and 30 Mbps through its upgraded DOCSIS 3.0 network. Internet clients can expect “more potent, stable and reliable” connections, company officials said.
Wireless provider Claro announced it is dropping the price of its basic Internet service to $20 a month to provide an entry-level alternative to that segment of the population that may not be able to afford a costlier option.
Puerto Rico needs to be proactive and keep the pressure on the U.S. government, especially the Federal Communications Commission, to make sure the island gets the funding it needs to advance broadband deployment and availability, Henry Rivera, former agency member told the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators in Fajardo late last week.
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