CANTV - Network Expansion and Modernization

Network Expansion and Modernization

For the first six years as a privatized company, fixed and mobile voice and data networks were expanded and modernized, thanks to the largest capital investment ever made in Venezuela by a private firm: more than US$ 3 billion. This novel technological platform encompassing the whole country allows us to meet the growing demand for telecommunications, thanks to its being permanently updated, just as the Movilnet network was later on. A total of 1,981 kilometers of Cantv’s most important project were constructed during that period: the inter-urban fiber optic system that would enable the main cities in the country to be connected to the most modern and reliable telecommunications platform in the whole of Latin America. Another landmark during this period was the creation of Movilnet on May 19, 1992, using TDMA technology, Movilnet put new products and services on the domestic market with innovations like the caller ID service. By 1997 the operator had a customer base of 375,000 subscribers.

Cantv offers below average voice and data transmission over Frame Relay, which facilitates the inconsistent use of broadband, with a scalable access speed ranging from 64 to 2,048 kbit/s; through transmission networks that use land-based microwave radio systems, Cantv provides services to areas unconnected to the cable platform.

There is wide ADSL port coverage to provide nationwide broadband Internet in accordance with the plan to install 130,000 ports each year in the IP network, claiing to offer an average speed of at least 1,200 kbit/s per customer. The reality for customers, however, are much lower speeds and frequent disconnections.