B.T.L. signs deal for fibre optic cable to Corozal
Belize Telecommunications Limited this afternoon signed an eight point three million dollar contract with Alcatel Telecom, the Mexican company hired to lay a fibre optic cable between Belize City and Corozal. According to Chairman Nestor Vasquez, this is the second phase of the upgrading of B.T.L.’s transmission network. After the unpleasant experience with Long Shot Drilling during installation of the first fibre optic cable along the Western Highway, Vasquez says B.T.L. is confident that this time around things will go as planned and that the line will help his company substantially in the delivery of its various services.
Nestor Vasquez, Chairman, B.T.L.
“This is a much bigger company. It is of high international repute and we have known of them for many years. This time we are fortunate that they submitted their tender and easily obtained the contract from us.
It will provide adequate service. By that I mean our lines overhead have been, have been congested and when we transmit our signals by way of fibre optic, it has more capacity and it also protects our signal. In the event of a hurricane, you’d still be able to communicate easily without any problem. That’s a big advantage. Plus, also it will enable villages along the route to easily have access to the system. That is important to us.”
Miguel Ruiz Estrada, Deputy Director, Alcatel
“The project comprise two parts. The first part is to lay the cable. It will take us about four months to make the cable ready but after that we must test and do the final clean in order to have the terrain in the same condition that already have or better. We have already reviewed all the area. We have also reviewed the engineering grounds that we already obtained, and it will be difficult but we have all the machinery and specialized equipment that we are going to use in this construction project.”
Q: “In terms of radio stations and television stations, will they be able to make use of this fibre optic line for their broadcasts?”
Nestor Vasquez
“Very definitely. I would say chiefly the television companies should take advantage of the fibre optic that will be available because it will be able to transmit a clean signal to Belmopan, to San Ignacio, to Orange Walk, to Corozal, back and forth.”
Q: “As Chairman of the board it’s your job to sell the product and certainly you say it would be best for especially the television stations to make use of it. Mr. Vasquez will it cost an arm and a leg to make use of this fibre optic service?”
Nestor Vasquez
“Well, I wouldn’t want to say it would cost an arm and a leg, but the electronics are never cheap. The equipment that you will need at your head end is costly and if B.T.L. has to invest in that then the users will have to pay for the cost of that equipment.”
If everything goes according to schedule, Vasquez says the fibre optic cable should be installed by the middle of August. He says the fibre optic line on the Western Highway has already been pressed into service and is now carrying about 750 lines. The Alcatel Deputy Director Miguel Ruiz Estrada says that when the actual laying of the fibre optic line commences within the next two weeks, his company will be employing at least seventy Belizeans for the duration of the construction. Alcatel is the same company that has been contracted by the sister monopoly Belize Electricity Limited to lay a submarine cable from Maskall Village to San Pedro Town.
