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China's ZTE to offer broadband over Cadafe transmission network(BNamericas.com)Chinese telecommunications firm Zhongxing Telecom Equipment (ZTE) will offer internet broadband services over the transmission network of Venezuelan state-owned electricity firm Cadafe, Cadafe president and energy and oil deputy minister Nervis Villalobos told reporters. The plan entails investments of US$312mn using Cadafe's 115kV national transmission network, Villalobos said, adding the project includes installing a 9,000km fiber optic network. "In the next few years Cadafe, or whoever the Venezuelan state designates, will be able to offer such services as broadband internet access, cable TV and phone service," Villalobos said. If the Cadafe-ZTE venture comes off, it will be the first of its kind in Venezuela. Just two months ago Venezuela's largest private electricity company, US power firm AES (NYSE: AES) subsidiary EDC, announced it had plans to offer broadband over its distribution network. Cadafe operates Venezuela's backbone electricity transmission network, which has 13 contributors in generation including state-owned hydro generation giant Edelca as well as private companies such as EDC and US company CMS Energy subsidiary Seneca. Cadafe has 2.5 million clients and, according to figures provided by Villalobos, as many as 1 million more illegal users. |