Ecuador - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Ecuador - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Ecuador sees improvements to international bandwidth

Given the location of Ecuador, most of its internet traffic is carried via submarine cables. Improvements to network capacity are crucial for the government’s project to cover 90% of the country with fixed and mobile broadband networks.

A National Broadband Plan has been in operation since mid-2011. It involves the mass deployment of broadband throughout Ecuador, with a special focus on underserved and technologically isolated areas.

The plan consists of three parts: infrastructure deployment, efficient management of resources, and the adoption of socially and environmentally responsible policies for broadband development. The main goals of the national broadband plan include significantly reducing the cost of broadband, increasing the number of small and medium-sized enterprises with broadband access, and ensuring that most rural communities have access to broadband.

Underlying the plan is a focus on extending the reach of the country’s domestic fibre network, and increasing international bandwidth.

Ecuador is connected through submarine cables to the USA, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. There are only a few major submarine cable networks landing in Ecuador In April 2022, Telconet and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) signed a contract to build the 4,500km CSN-1 cable running between Ecuador, Panama, Colombia, and Florida.

ASN also has the contract to build and deploy the Aurora cable system, which will have direct connections from the USA to Central American countries and Ecuador. The cable is expected to be ready for service at the end of 2022.

Complementing these is the recently completed South Pacific Cable System, which lands at Salinas and has direct links to Guatemala, Chile, and Peru.