After a number of delays, the Colombian government’s plans to connect schools in isolated areas via Wi-Fi is apparently resuming.
In recent days the country's ICT ministry – known as MinTIC – has announced the publication of the specifications and other draft documents of the Escuelas Potencia Digital (Schools Digital Power) 2.0 project, aimed at providing the deployment, installation, commissioning and operation of Wi-Fi areas located in localities or communities in rural, secluded and geographically isolated areas so that they can connect to free internet.
MinTIC's note to the public thanks all of those who showed interest in the previous process and, the Minister of ICT, Mauricio Lizcano says, invites people to participate with comments on this new initiative, “to install 2,110 Wi-Fi zones in 353 municipalities of 28 departments”. The budget will apparently exceed 260 billion pesos (about US$64.5 million),
We reported in July that MinTIC had cancelled a tender to connect over 3,000 schools. This decision was made after the attorney general's office warned that changes introduced in an addendum altered the meaning of the specifications and conditions.
It’s not clear whether these issues have been satisfactorily resolved, although we noted at the time that the process would reopen in approximately one month. However, it seems on this occasion to have a slightly reduced scope if the figure of 2,110 zones is correct, albeit the precise number of schools now involved does not seem to have been stated.
