América Movil, operating in Colombia as Claro announced that it has terminated a 727-kilometer extension of its AMX-1 undersea fiber optic cable in the Caribbean Island of San Andrés, enhancing the island’s internet connectivity, and enabling 4G and 4.5G mobile telephony.
The San Andrés cable extension connects with the main submarine trunk in place since 2013 that runs 17,500 kilometers and connects Colombia, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Florida, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, México and Brazil. In Colombia the undersea fiber network owned by América Movil (operating under the Claro brand name) lands in both Barranquilla and Cartagena.
Colombia’s President Ivan Duque (above, 3rd from left) was on hand at last month’s launch ceremony on San Andrés, where he said: “Today with Minister Carmen Ligia Valderrama, with the private sector, with the regulators and with Claro, we are complying with the archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia, delivering a new submarine cable that will exponentially multiply the capacity to access information and the download capacity. This is quality of life: this is telemedicine, tele-education, better services for tourism and better digital payment services”.
San Andrés is a Caribbean archipelago consisting of the three inhabited islands of Providencia, Santa Catalina, and the largest, San Andrés with a population of approximately 60,000. The islands suffered severe damage in 2020 by Hurricanes Eta & Iota. Providencia took a direct hit from which it is still undergoing reconstruction. Though Colombian territory, the islands are roughly 150 miles off the coast of Central America, and the native Raizal population speaks a Creole English in addition to Spanish. The islands are very popular with tourists, especially from South America.
