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UFINET is a neutral fiber optic operator in the wholesale telecommunications market. It provides its services and connectivity through fiber optics in the Americas. The organization was born in 1998 as the telecommunications department of a Spanish multinational company called Unión Fenosa, which had been managing the telecommunications services required for the electricity operation.
In 2000, UFINET began its period of expansion in Latin America, amalgamating with the electricity distribution companies that were acquired at that time by Union Fenosa. Today, UFINET is one of the largest fiber optic operators in Latin America, with more than 53,200 kilometers of fiber distributed in 17 countries and more than 20 years of experience.
The company’s major expansion and growth is currently focused on Latin America, with a rapid deployment of fiber optics and presence between the three points of presence in the United States: in the Americas network access points in Miami, Florida, Los Angeles and 60 Hudson in New York.
A leader driven by passion
Iñigo García del Cerro Prieto is the CEO of UFINET. He is a telecommunications engineer from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, an economist from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and also holds an MBA from IESE Business School, Spain.
Prior to becoming CEO, Mr. García del Cerro was Vice President of Business Development for UFINET, which focused primarily on the Spanish and Latin American markets. The main result of his professional career has been the exponential growth of the company itself, particularly in Central America, with a major deployment of an important fiber optic network and presence in more than 17 countries.
Overall responsibility for strategic definition, international development and expansion, business plan implementation, strategic alliance design, as well as agreements and relationships with local partners, are the key roles and responsibilities held by Sr. García del Cerro.
Enabling Digital Empowerment
UFINET provideshigh bandwidth fiber optic connections for fast and securecapacity connectivity to provide backbone and network access services, backhaul and local loop, and national and international connections. The “full capacity” connectivity is delivered through more than 50,200kms of fiber optic network deployed with more than 200 connected nodes distributed throughout the country.
UFINET’s fiber optic cable network has a complete infrastructure ready for customers who need to lease one, a pair or more strands of fiber optic cable, whether for small, medium or long distance requests. This type of service is most suitable for customers who require very high bandwidth connectivity.
The company provides the dark fiber cable and the customer lights it according to his needs and with his own equipment. UFINET’s dark fiber installation has a permanent maintenance, in a preventive and routine approach, as well as in case of failure. UFINET connects its customers to the world through IP transit services that preserve its robust fiber-optic transport network and connections to major U.S. submarine cables and neutral points.
The organization’s satellite communication services enable two-way remote access to rural sites through highly available connections with minimal latency. Its technology can support critical services with low latency and traffic requirements, as well as services with high bandwidth or Internet access.
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As a complementary part of the connectivity and capacity services, UFINET offers customers co-location services in several countries in Central, South and North America. This service is intended to facilitate interconnection between operators and/or system integrators, accelerating the implementation of new links and offering high levels of availability and protection of installed equipment and services.
The company provides remote access services to customer equipment through its specialists and performs configuration, troubleshooting and maintenance tasks. In addition, it offers Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) for inventory management of equipment or spare parts required by the customer.
When the Vision is to be a Neutral Telecommunications Infrastructure Operator
UFINET’s main vision is to be the neutral telecommunications infrastructure operator of reference worldwide, and the organization is working towards the goal much more intensively in the last three years. The company has significantly increased its internationalization through additional acquisitions and organic growth with a major global investment in fiber optics that has surpassed the $200 million mark.
In 2017 and 2018, the organization was awarded by the MEF as the best wholesale operator in the CALA region (Caribbean and Latin America), which fills UFINET with pride and satisfaction to continue working hard to improve the services it provides to Customers. In 2018, the organization was awarded the Global Carrier Community’s 2018 Latam Regional Operator of the Year award, and was also awarded by Frost & Sullivan as the 2018 Latin American Fiber Optic Wholesale Network Services Company of the Year.
An immaculate game plan
UFINET’s strategy from 2000 to 2014 was to grow and consolidate Central America and Colombia as a key development region. However, in the last three years, it has focused on promoting and developing the South American territory, to turn it into an important growth lever due to the growing demand for broadband capacity, as well as investment in fiber optic networks.
In addition, the organization has also carried out several inorganic operations to increase its presence, combined with several greenfield projects, which have resulted in the opening of new UFINET operations in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico.
Challenges that can change the course of the industry.
According to UFINET, as in most other industries, even the telecommunications industry faces several challenges, which are:
Pricing:
a value-added service and solution must be provided to meet the demands of its customers. There are many value propositions that make UFINET unique, but, for the organization, the most important is the hard work and commitment of the people. This key factor undoubtedly makes the main difference in achieving outstanding results. The organization’s staff is fully dedicated and aligned with its corporate values: agility, flexibility, passion and commitment, creativity and proximity.
Increased demand for bandwidth:
all IT trends, such as IoT and IoE, will require higher demand for Gbps worldwide. Telecommunications companies must be prepared to provide a higher level of connectivity and data flow from the original platform. UFINET’s fiber network is fully prepared to provide everything needed for the increased bandwidth demand by providing nx100Gbps Lambdas. As the organization’s quest is to provide the best quality solutions to customers, UFINET will always ensure that it continues to provide the necessary connectivity bandwidth. And it is already working to make it bigger whenever operators have the need.
Capillarity and global reach
The demand for services and higher bandwidths will become global and thus the need for denser fiber networks connecting every customer and every location. The UFINET network is very dense, connecting buildings and telecommunication towers, and at the same time has a global reach in every country, connecting many cities and towns.
5G development
– This goes beyond speed and bandwidth. The challenge in this issue will be to improve latency issues to provide a unique browsing experience. 5G also promises to bring reliability, scalability, security and universal mobility in the telecommunications industry, which would increase numerous services, directly connected to IoT. But 5G deployments are over fiber and towers, with the need to have 10 times more telecom towers and all connected with fiber. UFINET will definitely play an important role in these implementations.
OTT players:
although Over the Top companies are competing with traditional operators in some ways, there is still plenty of room for joint work for both.
Security and privacy
Security and privacy: Telecommunications operators must be vigilant for security breaches. This feature is considered seriously only after serious incidents occur. Traders must be able to forecast serious custody events.
Ongoing regulations:
the telecommunications industry has faced many regulatory challenges due to the nature, rapid transformation and complexity of the sector. And they will continue to renew in the coming years.
Key victory factors
The entry of new shareholders in 2014 has strengthened the operation of the organization, with a single focus: telecommunications. “I think this has been very positive for all of us, because it allows us to focus much more on our business,” says Mr. García del Cerro.
“UFINET is a still young company that is on its journey of full expansion. The hard work and commitment of its employees undoubtedly make a big difference in achieving alignment with our corporate values of agility, flexibility, passion and commitment, creativity and closeness,” he adds.
Envisioning a triumphant future
“We continue the path of success we have embarked on with a massive, global presence in Latin America, and become the benchmark as a global Infrastructure Operator,” says Mr. García del Cerro in expressing UFINET’s future efforts.
The organization will continue to increase the supply of telecommunications services and create neutral environments that translate into better and more affordable services for the general population.
“We are at a turning point, where we are confident that a new and fascinating stage will come.” We have the vision to be the Neutral Reference Operator worldwide,” says Mr. García del Cerro.
Source: The 10 fastest growing telecom solution providers of 2018.
The 10 Fastest Growing Telecom Solution Providers to Watch 2018
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