Cooperativa Telefónica de San Martín de los Andes (COTESMA) telephone cooperative chose TECNORED, ARTIC's partner in Argentina, to install an 8-km underwater ARTIC’s fiber optic backbone link across Lake Meliquin, in the province of Neuquén.
This is a project that we have been working on for more than a year and that, with “zero” environmental impact, will guarantee the provision of internet service and will create new opportunities for socioeconomic development in the town of Villa Meliquina, in Patagonia in the South of Argentina.
"The primary objective is to ensure stable communications in Villa Meliquina", said Juan Carlos Astete, president of COTESMA. In order to provide communication services to Villa Meliquina, COTESMA has to make four connections via radio links from San Martín de los Andes, with harsh weather conditions affecting the service quality, especially in the winter, when there is a great need to be connected. "The final solution to this problem was envisioned when ARSAT deployed the Federal Fiber Optic Network (Red Federal de Fibra Óptica) a few kilometers away, That was the point at which we undertook this initiative and when we chose TECNORED as our vendor and technological partner", said Astete.
The underwater link was made with a special type of cable manufactured by ARTIC. Raúl Andrés Fleman, ARTIC's Business Manager for Latin America, explained “this cable is designed for protecting the fibers from the stress of underwater operating conditions, which ensures reliable and high quality service provision.".
Juan Domínguez, CEO of TECNORED, highlighted: "This is a truly unique project in the country, it is driven by a cooperative from Patagonia that always strives to innovate and has state-of-the-art optical technology specially developed by ARTIC".
"Today the best way to be connected is to have internet connection", said Astete and concluded: "This is an innovative project, that broadened minds, offered alternatives and we managed to successfully conclude it because TECNORED brought us engineering and the latest technology in fiber-optic connectivity".
