At the signing ceremony, Vice-President Costa stressed telecoms' key role in fostering development, saying that this project represented a major step towards providing a countrywide service, an important objective in itself, by widening mobile telecoms coverage and enabling outlying areas to access the network. The expansion of the mobile network's coverage and capacity, along with the technological progress embodied by the project, will help to create a more favourable environment for Colombia's economic and social development.
The loan will contribute to financing the increase in capacity and geographical expansion of an EDGE-enabled mobile telecoms network and the introduction of third-generation UMTS technology. The enormous demand for mobile telephony in the developing countries is demonstrated by the success of subscription-based and prepaid telephone services. The introduction of EDGE and UMTS technologies will benefit the whole economy. As well as fostering local economic development, the project will involve technology transfer from a European company that is well established in Latin America.
The EIB is granting this loan under the current lending mandate for Asia and Latin America (ALA IV). This is the EIB's second loan to Telefónica Móviles Colombia (the first consisting of EUR 100 million in 2006). The Bank has previously financed a number of the Telefónica Group's other projects in Latin America (Chile, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru).
The EIB is the EU's long-term financing institution promoting European objectives. Created in 1958, it operates in the 27 EU Member States and more than 130 countries in Asia and Latin America, central and eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Mediterranean region, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. It provides loans outside the European Union in the framework of the EU's development assistance policies.
The EIB has been providing loans in Asia and Latin America since 1993 under three successive mandates. Under the current mandate for the period 2007-2013 (ALA IV), it is authorised to lend up to EUR 3.8 billion to finance i) operations supporting the EU's presence in the region through direct investment and/or the transfer of technology and know-how, and ii) climate change mitigation projects. The EUR 3.8 billion breaks down into indicative amounts of EUR 2.8 billion for Latin America and EUR 1 billion for Asia.