Rooftops of Cuzco, Peru. Photo: Tyler Bell/Wikimedia Commons

[Via Satellite 12-17-2015] Gilat Satellite Networks has received an award by Peru’s telecommunications investment fund Fondo de Inversion en Telecomunicaciones (Fitel) to supply regional telecommunications infrastructure for $108 million. The new project, to take place in the region of Cusco in Southern Peru, is in addition to the previously projects Fitel awarded to Gilat in the regions of Huancavelica, Ayacucho and Apurimac, which are currently underway.

Fitel’s regional initiative represents the complementary phase of the Peruvian National Fiber Backbone project, aimed to connect rural villages to broadband services. The fiber-optic transport networks will be built and immediately transferred to the Ministry of Telecommunications, while the access networks based on wireless technologies will be built and operated for 10 years before transfer to the Ministry. In the frame of the access network operation obligations, Gilat will connect about 615 public institutions and 371 remote villages to broadband services.

“Today we start covering new villages with high speed broadband. I’m pleased because strategic alliances between public and private sectors are strengthening with those projects,” said Jose Gallardo Ku, Minister of Transport and Communications in Peru.

“On top of the bid, Gilat expects additional revenues to be generated by enabling cellular carriers to acquire network capacity to address the growing needs for voice, data, and Internet in these regions,” added Dov Baharav, chairman and interim CEO of Gilat.