DRIVER OF SOCIAL PROGRESS
Advances in Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) respond to key social challenges, however, the inequitable dissemination of these advances means a risk of those people and communities that cannot access them being left behind, thus giving rise
ISPASAT manages a key technology with respect to this problem. Satellite makes it possible for internet to reach anywhere on Earth, even those places where terrestrial networks do not reach. Accordingly, it has become a unique tool to bring the opportunities afforded by ICTs anywhere in the world, thus reducing inequality and paving the way to social progress where infrastructure is wanting, as is general and quality access to telecommunications services.
HISPASAT aspires to making its satellite service available to such people, to the extent permitted by its activity, and thereby contributing to universal access to ICTs. Moreover, it aims to support initiatives and causes targeting the creation of social value.
FIGHT AGAINST THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
KIOSCOS VIVE DIGITAL
In 2010, the Colombian Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC) set in motion the “Plan Vive Digital para la Gente”, a roadmap to facilitate ICT access to communities with over 100 inhabitants around the country, and particularly, those in the remotest areas. To this end, it deployed over 7,000 community internet access centres, called “Kioscos Vive Digital” throughout the country’s 32 departments.
The “Kioscos” provide access to internet, training and awareness to bring the digital economy to communities. Accordingly, they give basic skills courses in the use of computers and other more advanced ones in on-line marketing, environmental management, crafts, quality, leadership, ICT enterprise, and local history and traditions, among a host of others. Moreover, general, useful information on matters such as health and local government is also given.
HISPASAT, in partnership with NEC de Colombia, collaborates in this plan by providing connectivity via satellite in seven Colombian departments. During the second phase of the project, they were given authorisation in 2013 to install, operate and manage 648 of these centres.
Each “Kiosco” has a manager who acts as a facilitator for users, while also taking on skills and awareness tasks. This manager is a community member dedicated to community development who has basic and practical knowledge of computers, systems and internet.
As a result of these community internet access points, the departments of Amazonas, Boyacá, Caldas, Cundinamarca, Guainía, Risaralda and Vaupés now have communication and business opportunities available to them.
HISPASAT and NEC run 648 community access points to internet in areas around the country that previously had no access to this technology.
GET CONNECTED ‘CONÉCTATE’ PROJECT
In 2017, HISPASAT launched the Get Connected ‘Conéctate’ Project, a social action initiative focusing on activities aimed at reducing the digital divide.
According to the report drafted by the Spanish Secretariat of State for the Information Society and Digital Agenda entitled “Cobertura de banda ancha en España a mediados de 2016” (Broadband coverage in Spain in mid-2016), there are still 2,682 remote or sparsely populated small towns and villages in Spain without access to at least a 10 Mbps internet connection. Moreover, broadband connections in at least half of Spanish townlands (4,037 communities) do not reach the 30 Mbps established as a goal for the entire population by the European Digital Agenda for 2020. Indeed, the connection speed is less than 2 Mbps in nearly 600,000 homes.
Given this scenario, satellite would seem to be the only technology capable of providing universal broadband access to these communities. Accordingly, HISPASAT wishes to contribute to increasing digital inclusion in Spain by launching this project.
www.hispasatconectate.es
#enREDatupueblo Competition
The first project action was carried out this year consisting in the #enREDatupueblo competition.
The main goals of the competition are to breach the digital divide, to increase society’s awareness of the benefits of satellite such as broadband access technology and to place the Digital Agenda at the frontline of political debate, given that digital exclusion is a barrier to the economic and social development of thousands of Spanish small towns and villages.
#enREDatupueblo was conceived to target those Spanish townlands and Singular Population Entities (ESP) with less than 800 inhabitants and, either no or poor quality access to the internet. The prize consisted of a year’s free, 30 Mbps internet access via satellite to the winning village.
To be eligible to compete, participants must expound, in a creative fashion, on the benefits internet access would bring to their towns or villages.
Eurona, the satellite services provider contributed to the competition by taking charge of managing the end provision of the service to the client, including the logistics involved and coordinating installations and after-sales service. Moreover, the Spanish National Federation of Telecommunications Integrators and Installers (FENITEL) took part in collaborating in the installation of antennas.
The village of Magaña in Soria came out as winner of the 14 small towns and villages that presented their candidature.
Sice July the inhabitants of the locality enjoyinternet connection. To accomplish this, over 40 antennas had to be installed in those dwellings that applied for the service, in addition to four WiFi zones opened in Magaña, Pobar and Villarraso, the three villages that go to make up the municipality.
Accordingly, all village inhabitants can now enjoy internet connection in their homes, services and businesses for one year.
Magaña town council presented its candidature for the competition with a video that explained the improvements an internet connection would bring to the village in the future.
See “Un año después en Magaña” (A year later in Magaña) at:
http://hispasatconectate.es/
maganaparticipacionenredatupueblo/
MAGAÑA
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
ASSISTANCE IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
Whenever terrestrial communications infrastructure is rendered useless, satellite becomes the only option to restore communications; a crucial factor in crisis situations in which the lives and property of numerous people may be at risk. HISPASAT makes its satellite system available to the victims of emergencies and natural disasters.
Accordingly, in 2017 HISPASAT supported emergency tasks carried out in the Caribbean after hurricanes Irma and María, while in Spain it helped to alleviate the effects of the forest fires that broke out in Galicia last autum.
Hurricanes in the Caribbean
Last October several Caribbean islands were devastated by hurricanes Irma and María. Telecommunications infrastructure and power lines in the region were destroyed, houses and hospitals laid low and thousands of people left without a roof over their head at the mercy of the elements.
HISPASAT and several leading telecommunications industry companies deployed a high capacity satellite network to tackle the situation and collaborate in restoring connectivity, while at the same time helping out in the local rescue tasks that were carried out in San Martin, the British Virgin Islands, Anguila and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
This network was based on iDirect ground infrastructure, with the spatial segment provided by the HISPASAT Amazonas 3 satellite, Cisco VoIP networks and Red52 teleport services via satellite, and was used by the mobile phone operator Digicel to work on the immediate restoration of mobile telephone services and to provide community support, thus making internet access available to families, first-aid teams and emergency workers, as well as voice and video services.
This work was also supported by the Global VSAT Forum (GVF) and NetHope, an organisation that puts not-for-profit organisations in touch with innovative technological companies around the world.
Fires in Galicia
In November, HISPASAT, together with Quantis, a subsidiary of the Eurona Group satellite, and the Nexmachina equipment distributor, installed four, open WiFi points via satellite in the town of As Neves in the province of Pontevedra to provide emergency connectivity to locals whose communications had crashed after the forest fires that had broken out in Galicia in October.
Until such time as the terrestrial infrastructure was recovered, the three aforementioned companies provided a basic connectivity service with voice over IP, instant messaging and browsing without multimedia content that was managed by Quantis on the Hispasat 30W-5 capacity and with equipment supplied by HISPASAT and Nexmachina.
AGREEMENT WITH ONU
In addition to these interventions, it should be pointed out that since 2015 HISPASAT has an agreement in place with the United Nations pursuant to which it undertakes to provide spatial capacity and terminals to restore communications in possible natural disaster situations and emergencies and to collaborate in rescue and reconstruction tasks that are undertaken by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN agency in charge of coordinating humanitarian aid.
The agreement, promoted by the EMEA Satellite Operator’s Association (ESOA) and Global VSAT Forum (GVF), guarantees that HISPASAT and the other participant operators will provide full operational capacity by means of their satellite networks to the point of reception, depending on their availability.
The solution also includes ground equipment and reception terminals and the requisite training of those in charge of first intervention actions in disaster scenarios so they are able to deploy the communication solutions successfully.
COLLABORATION IN EDUCATIONAL, CULTURAL AND SPORTS PROJECTS
In the course of 2017, HISPASAT collaborated with different entities to support the spreading of culture and sports. Moreover, it used the Hispasat 4K International Short Film Festival that it holds every year as an instrument to pursue Sustainable Development Goals.
Teatro Real
In keeping with its support of cultural diffusion, HISPASAT continued to collaborate with the Teatro Real in 2017. The company provides space capacity to broadcast a maximum of ten shows live each year.
On foot of an agreement signed in 2015, it also enables Teatro Real shows to return to cinemas around the world by distribution via satellite.
HISPASAT broadcast a live performance of the opera Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini from the Teatro Real in Madrid in 2017.
One of the most performed operas at theatres around the world, it was broadcast in high definition and could be seen in magnificent sound and image conditions in squares, museums, town halls, auditoriums, cultural centres and other institutions in over 200 venues around Spain.
This initiative was part of the Opera Week during which several activities are held to bring this musical genre to a wider public.
Atresmedia Fundación
In 2017, HISPASAT continued its collaboration with Atresmedia Fundación by financing part of the broadcast costs of the Fan3 TV channel for children in Spanish hospitals.
III International Hispasat 4K Festival
The Hispasat 4K International Short Film Festival is one of the first in the world to be solely dedicated to shorts filmed and post-produced in 4K. HISPASAT makes the most of this event to promote Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to collaborate in preserving Spanish film heritage.
Since 2016, HISPASAT has included in the conditions of its 4K International Short Film Festival a clause establishing the commitment to award one of the prizes to a short film the subject of which contributes to promoting the SDGs.
Accordingly, the Festival jury particularly appreciates those competing shorts the theme of which is related in some way to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and grants at least one prize, no matter what the category, to a work that deals with these issues from any angle, genre, perspective or aesthetic approach. The 2017 winner of the prize was the short film entitled Palabras de caramelo (Sugar-coated words) directed by Juan Antonio Moreno Amador for its promoting of human values. The short film tells the story of Koori
Fundación Estudiantes (Student Foundation)
HISPASAT continues to support the Fundación Estudiantes with its sponsorship of the bilingual training campus “EstuCamp” for young basketball players in wheelchairs. Forty grants were sponsored by HISPASAT for participants in this campus, in addition to part of its management and organisation costs. The Spanish operator finds it shares many of the core principles of the campus, both with respect to its business activity, for which sports broadcasts are an important component, as well as regards values such as honesty, commitment and teamwork that are proper to the pursuit of any sports activity.
Moreover, in 2017, HISPASAT, the Madrid Spina Bifida Association and the Fundación Estudiantes has continued to collaborate with the wheelchair basketball school: EstuAMEB. This school makes it possible for young, disabled boys and girls to play basketball and encourages their integration and normalisation. It helps to develop their game and psychomotor abilities as well as their social and educational skills.
Fundación UCM
Once again, HISPASAT made it possible to disseminate knowledge of and access to information on the El Escorial Summer Courses, provide the satellite connection for the diffusion of Courses’s contents.
Fundación Créate
HISPASAT took part in the 2017 edition of the Madrid Entrepreneurs Charity Run, with the funds raised going to foster entrepreneurship at Spanish educational centres.
Lastly, worthy of particular mention is the renewal of HISPASAT’s commitment to UNICEF for the “Multiplica por la Infancia” (Multiply for Childhood) programme; to GAVI child vaccination, promoted by La Caixa bank and an alliance of collaborating companies; and to UNHCR to which it donated on the occasion of the Christmas season the money allotted to corporate gifts.
Moreover, in 2017 it put its Corporate Volunteer Plan into operation, which sees employees take part in blood donation campaigns run by the Red Cross and in the “The Big Collection” organised by the Food Bank in December. With respect to the latter, HISPASAT employees collaborated by way of going to various food establishments as volunteers.
The company also participated internally by signing up to the Kilo Operation which sees employees donate a kilo of foodstuff to the Food Bank.
Sector associations and forums
With a view to generating positive synergies to the benefit of society as a whole, HISPASAT is a member of different sector associations and forums:
- Spanish Secretariat of State for the Information Society and Digital Agenda
- Spanish National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL)
- International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
- Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL)
- European Conference on Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT)
- Inter-American Association of Telecommunication (ASIET)
- European Satellite Operators Association (ESOA)
- National Union of Satellite Telecommunication Companies of Brazil (SINDISAT)
- Brazilian Association of Satellite Companies (ABRASAT)
- Global VSAT Forum (GVF)
- World Teleport Association (WTA)
- Madrid Aerospace Cluster
- European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
- Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)
- Space Data Association
- Spanish Defence, Aeronautical and Space Association (TEDAE)
- SAT>IP Alliance
