Ecuador’s electricity companies look to Broadband Powerline
Ecuador’s electricity companies look to Broadband Powerline
Though a small country, Ecuador is at the forefront in Latin America in terms of Broadband Powerline (BPL) developments. Studies and tests on BPL, begun in several Latin American countries in the late 90s, have experienced several ups and downs due to problems with standards and technological vicissitudes. In 2007-2008, the interest of Latin American utilities shifted to smart grids, especially with a view to reducing electric power theft, a major regional challenge. In April 2008, BPL Global entered into a partnership with Broadband Powerline Communications Latin America (BPLCLA), a telecom company involved in designing BPL systems for voice, broadband, and television. According to the partnership agreement, BPLCLA became the distributor of BPL Global’s smart grid technology in Latin America, a move that is expected to accelerate smart grid uptake in the region. As at September 2008, BPLCLA is planning to begin operations in Ecuador, where four electricity companies are already active in the development of BPL technology. The Empresa Eléctrica Azogues (Emelazogues), which operates in Ecuador’s Cañar province, teamed up with Canadian BPL provider Trimax Corporation in March 2007 to successfully complete a BPL pilot programme. The two companies formed a joint venture with plans to launch BPL triple-play services commercially in the town of Azogues, including Internet, telephony, and pay TV. Quito-based electricity provider Empresa Electrica Quito (EEQ) signed an agreement in November 2007 with a consortium made up of telecom companies Telconet, Gilauco, and Brightcell (TGB) to jointly offer services using BPL technology. In April 2008, EEQ submitted a request to Conatel for a broadband licence covering the provinces of Pichincha and Santo Domingo. EEQ plans to offer high-speed Internet access, VoIP telephony, and IPTV services over a fibre-optic and BPL network reaching 70% of its 700,000 electricity users in Quito. In July 2008, EEQ and TGB selected Canadian firm Corinex Communications to provide a BPL network spanning over 15,000km of EEQ’s electrical cables and covering 800,000 residents in Quito. Users would have access to broadband access at connection speeds of between 256Kb/s and 1Mb/s. Work on the project began immediately, and the companies expected to complete the rollout in two and a half years. In January 2008, power utility Transelectric inaugurated a 460km broadband network using BPL technology. The US$28 million fibre-optic cable network is overlaid on Transelectric’s electricity lines covering the Azuay, El Oro, and Loja provinces in the south of Ecuador, and is capable of providing triple-play services including voice, Internet, and video. Cuenca-based power utility CentroSur received a licence in August 2008 to offer commercial telephony and ISP services. It began BPL trials and said it estimated there would be a demand for 10,000 BPL users in Cuenca. It also has plans to offer fibre-optic transport services to domestic telcos, ISPs, and mobile operators, and has identified corporate demand for connections based on dedicated fibre, GPON, and wireless access technologies.
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Tagged in: Ecuador, Global, Latin America (Includes the Caribbean)
