The serious problems of internet connection experienced in the province of Lugo, where 45% of the population has no access to high speed internet (30% in Galicia), will cease to be in 2013, the year that the whole province will get broadband. That's the commitment made last Friday by the president of the Xunta, Alberto Núñez Feijoo, in the Lugo’s province capital, where he went to present the Galician plan which will eliminate the digital divide between the Atlantic provinces and the interior before the end of the legislature.

In the case of Lugo, the difficult terrain of the province of Galicia require the regional government to make greater deployment, you have to use the satellite as explained Mar Pereira, General Director for Modernization and Technological Innovation of the Xunta. It is a system that will be used in all Galicia provinces but particularly in Lugo, where conventional broadband reaches only 86.87% of citizens, compared with 95.63% of A Coruna, Pontevedra 96.95% and 94,76% of Ourense.

The regional government will be forced to resort to the satellite, a more expensive technology, to provide quality connectivity to 13% of the Lugo population (46,000 citizens) and 6% of the Galician (about 143,000), for which he designed a plan budgeted at EUR 4 million will be "subject" to the activities carried out by the State Government and the Xunta expected to materialize, said Pereira.

The broadband master plan of Galicia has a budget of 102 million euro from public funds, a figure expected to reach 232 million with the involvement of other public authorities, such as regional provinces, and private investment.

The aim is to provide a good Internet connection to the entire population of Galicia, from residential to business sector and the government, so that all citizens have access to all types of public and private services in the same equality pulsed conditions and for innovation and business competitiveness. "No project shall cease to be located in no place in Galicia for technological conditions," says Feijoo, because the regional government's commitments to eliminate the digital divide is "measured in time, measured in budgets and measured in actions," he said.

The plan

The master plan includes several lines: development of a strong telecommunications infrastructure, streamlining the implementation of these with a technical office for advice and support, and encouraging the use with outreach programs and training and economic incentives.

Regarding the development of infrastructures, will take place several actions. One of them will deploy fixed networks to all county seats without coverage, the nuclei of over a hundred people with high demand and business parks and industrial estates, which will benefit about 100,000 people and will require an investment of 15 million euro. On the other hand, enhance the public operator Retegal, providing more resources to be allocated as 35 million.

Third, wireless networks will be all the nuclei of more than 100 people and those with high demand that are not covered by the previous performances, in total, about 400,000 people, which will entail an expenditure of 20 million euro .

In addition, the regional government will allocate 4 million to bring broadband to the population that because of its dispersion or location was not included in previous proceedings and deploy next generation networks, with speeds up to 100 megabits-up homes, businesses and administrations that are currently at points shadow in areas that are covered, i.e. one million inhabitants, which will require an investment of 28 million.

With these measures, it is expected that public administrations have high-quality broadband in every bit of Galicia, just that 96% of all businesses and industrial estates and business parks that could be covered by next year, said the general manager of Modernization and Innovation Tecnolóxico.

Galicia was late into the industrialization process, said Feijoo, but now we cannot be late in the technological revolution, he said. "It is communicated by the infrastructure, with the vast majority of the population to ten minutes of a high capacity route thanks to the Move plan being developed, and with quality public social services, but also has to be in through new technologies, "said the president of the Xunta, that this Friday in Lugo pledged to" prioritize "the inland provinces to reduce the digital divide with the Atlantic.

Once polygons and 35,000 businesses, Offline

The Xunta analyzed the connectivity of the autonomous region, a work for which it was supported by the majority of telecom operators, that were thanked last Friday by the General Director -and that showed some worrying results: eleven industrial sites and 35,000 businesses (16 %) have no possibility of broadband access at present time because they are located in places where no such service is existing.

This lack of connectivity is a major obstacle to business’ competitiveness, as it happens in another key sector of the Galician economy, the primary one. According to the map made by the regional government, 64% of the farming industry in the community lack of broadband.

The lack of broadband affects mostly rural areas-40% of these municipalities do not have it, but not exclusively. 15% of urban municipalities are also without service.