The Government today approved a Council of Ministers Regulation (RCM) that transfers the costs of the tender for the coverage of white areas (without Internet), public and private investments amounting to approximately 350 million euros.
At today’s meeting of the Council of Ministers, several decrees were approved to extend the expenditure, including “one related to the use of optical fibre in the so-called white zones, that is, spaces in areas with low population density where there is no wide frequency band coverage,” said Presidential Minister António Leitão Amaro.
“Very significant investments have been made – in the project as a whole, between public and private investments, we are talking about about 350 million euros – the national effort is half of that amount, and then it is divided between different sources and funding, and in reprogramming and redevelopment [da despesa] We made it possible to implement this project, which is very important for the country’s internal affairs,” he added.
This PCM amends the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 1.56-A./2023 of November 30 on the international public tender for the installation, management, operation and maintenance of fiber-optic networks, “determining that the investment amounts established for the years after 2024 may be increased by the balances calculated in previous economic years, creating financial and competitive conditions so that in the future the quality of the Internet network improves in several internal areas of the national territory,” the document says.
The previous government, in an international public tender announcement on December 12, 2023, said the white space coverage project covered more than 400,000 homes in several inland regions.
According to information published at the time, global investments amounted to 425 million euros, which allowed, especially in the interior of the country, access to broadband Internet, half of which was public funding (around 150 million euros from the regional programs of Portugal 2030 and the rest coming from national funds).
Complete coverage of the continental territory was expected by 2026/2027.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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