Daniel Armand Ugon, founder and Director of Web2Mil, was interviewed nn the September 2006 edition of Tecno magazine edited by the largest Uruguayan newspaper, El Pais. Daniel was interviewed for a special report on Telecommunications in Uruguay, together with María Simón (President of Antel), Alvaro Lamé (Director of Netgate) and Sergio Fogel (President of Uniotel).

 

Internet is the first FTA signed by Uruguay

Daniel Armand Ugon, founder of Intercanal and Web2Mil, insisted that the issue of costs, particularly those of fixed telephony, but also of other services, is a huge barrier to development. He affirmed that "telecommunication development is not the goal; the goal is the development of the people".

"I believe that what is making it hard for telecommunications in Uruguay to develop are monopolies" he said, "which will be eventually defeated by technologies, such as the IP technology that little by little is invading everything and there is no monopoly that can stop it". He said that time is being wasted, "because eventually we'll arrive to the same place but at a slower pace, and we'll end up wasting time and opportunities".

The boom of mobile telephony.

"There is no doubt that the biggest boom in telecommunications in the latest years in Uruguay has been mobile telephony. This is largely due to the emergence of a third operator that shook the market", he said. "Almost nobody remembers that there was a very harsh opposition to authorize CTI operations. What happened next was a fall in prices and an improvement in the offers caused by competition, which enabled a massive availability of the service to sectors that couldn't afford cellphones before. The consumer was benefited"

The cost of the telephone pulse.

Intercanal has been one of the operators that has done more work in the dialup option of Internet access. "The reality is that around the world, dialup is still nowadays the largest option in Internet access. Even in the United States, 40% access the Internet this way. Dialup is very important, because it democratizes Internet access. The problem in Uruguay is that the cost of the telephone pulse leaves a large part of society without this possibility". As Antel holds the telephony monopoly, it is Antel's responsibility to turn it accessible. "It is important to point out that if Uruguay has as perspective to get closer to the world, I believe that the idea of everybody connected to the Internet will benefit everyone. To achieve that, the cost of the pulse would have to be lowered to an accessible rate. The Internet is the first Free Trade Agreement that Uruguay signed, and it signed it with the world. The more people participate in this agreement, the more people are connected to the Internet, the more benefits Uruguay will gain, because connected people will generate ideas, money and businesses", he said.

Open up the competition.

"I believe that telecommunications by itself are not the goal, the goal is the development of the people. The important thing is the cultural development of persons. Communication is a medium, and the way how the people access this medium has price as its biggest limitation. The lower the price, more people will access it.  That is why we have to open up the competition as much as we can, that is the only way prices will drop" .

The impact of Internet.

If you take a look at Uruguay in the latest years, "The Internet has had a great impact on the country. It changed the way of thinking, there is a new vision of the world. The Internet not only globalizes the economy and the technologies, it globalizes the conscience". About the technologies of larger impact, he thinks Voice over IP, operating systems virtualization and SMS stand out. About SMS, he says that "It is still not being used in the most productive way. It is more a trend in the younger generations, than a useful tool. But it will be in the future, especially with web integrated services". He also signalled the evolution of entertainment options, particularly online video with YouTube, and also online games. 

What's next.

"We'll see many new services. Everyday we are closer to the world being one click away. The Internet, the big network, is fundamental because it generates a critical mass that the country by itself doesn't have and that is key to development. To achieve that critical mass what we have to do is remove the barriers to access, making it cheap and easy to connect.  For example, being online for 10 hours a day with dialup in Bolivia costs 20 dollars, if you do the same in Uruguay it will cost between 280 and 500 dollars a month, it's a scandal! Antel has been afraid for 10 years, it's afraid that the cable companies will offer Internet and so it charges dedicated access 10 times more than in Argentina, it's afraid of losing telephone lines to cellphones and so it subsidizes services that need these lines, it's afraid to lower the cost of the pulse and that Uruguay discovers a new world. You cannot build a country on fear, you cannot waste more opportunities".

 

Source: El Pais Digital

Translated in Web2Mil.