“We are very excited to join Nedetel to the Ufinet group and the investment made in a country like Ecuador where, in addition to the great growth opportunities in our business, we see a favourable context for a foreign investor thanks to the actions taken by the new government," said Stefano Lorenzi, executive president of Ufinet.
Meeting with Lasso as well as the minister of foreign affairs, Mauricio Montalvo; the minister of telecommunications, Vianna Maino; and the minister of production and foreign trade, Julio José Prado, the official visit in Spain comprised two days in which all attendees held different meetings to encourage European investments in Ecuador, as part of the wider strategy named More Ecuador in the World and more World in Ecuador.
As such Ufinet has announced an initial investment of $150 million in Ecuador, partnering with the Ecuadorian telco Nedetel. The company also has an additional funds of $100 million, which will be implemented over the coming years and is supported by its shareholders, investment fund CINVEN, and the Italian multinational ENEL.
“One of the company's focuses is to bring Internet to rural areas, thus contributing to the break of the country's digital gap," said F Javier Lacasa, COO & executive vice president of Ufinet.
"This will be done by neutrally supporting local ISPs, as Nedetel has done so far, providing them with a world-class service supported in OTN and MPLS networks of the very latest generation and complying with the most demanding international standards, for which we have the excellent Nedetel team, reinforced by all the resources and international know-how of Ufinet.”
The investment from Ufinet in Ecuador is set to not only support the development of its telecoms infrastructures but will also be a source of job creation in the country.
“In the upcoming weeks, Ufinet will inaugurate a state-of-the-art data centre, the largest in the country, which is located in the City of Guayaquil and will serve to house content providers, as well as all telecommunications operators that need it to its B2B business,” said Juan Carlos Menendez, president of the board of directors at Ufinet Ecuador.
In related news, September saw Ufinet complete the acquisition of NB Telecom, in Rio de Janeiro.
