Antel Uruguay a High Tech
Company Steps up in the World

Antel Uruguay dates back to 1974 and this high tech industry continues to be a leading force in the communications industry. Today the company is located in Montevideo Uruguay next to the bay and the telecommunication giant has office headquarters in a 35-story skyscraper proudly recognized as being Uruguay's tallest building.

With the onset of the 21st century, Antel executives are anxious to see the company push forward as Uruguay's multi-media industry is already enjoying a phenomenal expansion. Many people may know this company by another name, the National Telecommunications Administration.

Today the company has the reputation for being one of South America's true communication giants. This company's menu features a long list of services for the use and convenience of customers. Mobile phone service, landlines, internet packages and local/long distance phone access are all available with newer options already planned for the near future.

Antel Uruguay was one of the businesses able to survive the 1992 privatization actions initiated by the government authorities. At this time, the president was Luis Alberto Lacalle who wanted to privatize all government owned companies and many of the local businesses were overhauled completely. This company in Uruguay was one of the companies that chose to take a stand against this broad, sweeping change and it worked.

In the following years, the laws would be revoked and Antel Uruguay was able to maintain its telecommunications position. Today this company enjoys the freedom to provide a variety of communications services to the people of Uruguay. I find it interesting that they are free to prohibit any other telecommunications carriers from setting up landline phone services in Uruguay.

This priority status also forbids surrounding cable operators from providing any internet services or voice services in package sales with their cable services. This block even extends to those companies that may have established a strong reputation and clientele in the larger cities of Uruguay.

Antel Uruguay holds the lion's share of the marketplace at this time and they are anxious to maintain their grasp on telecommunications services within the borders of Uruguay. Even the company's closest competitors, Movistar and Claro are far behind when it comes to customer numbers and sales.

Under the direction of current President María Simon, Antel Uruguay rakes in a whopping $700 million USD in revenue each year. With earnings that large, Antel is more than equipped to provide its customers with unparalleled products and support.

Antel provides its mobile phone services through the Ancel brand while their internet services continue to be marketed through the Antel Data brand.

September 2009 Antel makes International Headlines

Antel announced that it had chosen Alcatel-Lucent/IT Telecom consortium for collaboration on a joint project with Telecom Argentina. Together the companies would begin construction for the first direct, high-capacity submarine cable network to run from Maldonado Uruguay, to Las Toninas, Argentina.

The project involves a 250 km (155 miles) long submarine cable system, with a capacity of 3.84 Terabit, which will provide Antel and Telecom Argentina customers with greater network capability, faster connectivity and bandwidth availability.

While the main objective of these enhancements is to support cutting-edge, innovative, IP-based services, the project will also give the Antel Uruguay telecommunications giant the ability to lower the cost of broadband access to their customer base throughout the entire region.

Still another project

Looming on the horizon for the state-owned telecommunications company is a new portal in conjunction with the commercial launch of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) service. The project is set to debut in March of this year.

Collaborating with state university Republica, this newest launch would fall under Phase I of the company's Mercurio Plan, at a cost of $900 million dollars.

As part of a pilot program to kick-start the engines of the venture, 100 local businesses will be presented with the latest ADSL service.

Initial plans include offering ADSL service to businesses only through their subsidiary company, Antel Data.

According to company sources, the chief goal of the Mercurio Plan is to provide universal Internet access to the country's one million fixed-line telephone customers. With the project's successful completion,

Antel Uruguay estimates that, over a three-year period, over 70 percent of Uruguay's fixed-line subscribers will have access to the Internet.

Package deals with a menu ranging from Internet terminals, modems (ADSL or dial-up), and content will be offered to both residential as well as business users.

Financing for the project will come from a combination of vendor financing and joint ventures, as well as funding from investors. This company is estimating an annual investment price tag of approximately $300 million dollars.

Nearly 40 years since its inception

Antel Uruguay has built one of Latin America's most comprehensive fixed-line networks. With the highly anticipated new projects that are presently planned the company shows courage and determination to continue its forward push to become a world leader in both telecommunications and customer service.

All work and no play make for a boring life. I think we should stop talking about Antel Uruguay and Go explore Uruguay Come on lets go!