[Marxism] The Year of the Chinese Satellite in Venezuela

[Walter Lippmann]

(Since the United States won't permit Cuba to purchase high-speed
Internet access via the fiber-optic cable which already exists in
the Caribbean sea, the island is expected to be able to obtain it
via a similar fiber-optic cable link which is also being built by
Venezuela. That should increase Cuba's bandwidth qualitatively.)
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The Year of the Chinese Satellite in Venezuela

Caracas, Jan 2 (Prensa Latina) Although no date has been set yet,
2008 will be The Year of the Satellite in Venezuela, when the "Simon
Bolivar" satellite, currently under construction in China, will be
launched.

According to predictions, the satellite must be put into orbit and
operational during the second semester of 2008, and will be
functioning for 15 years to guarantee communications in the country.

Venezuelan authorities plan to put into place an 11,800-mile fiber
optic network by 2010. Preparations to achieve that goal began in
2007, when the Compañia Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela
(CANTV) was nationalized.

Other measures will include the interconnection of the fiber optic
networks of CANTV, Petroleos de Venezuela, Electricidad de Caracas,
Compañia Anonima de Administración y Fomento Electrico, Electricidad
del Caroni and Telecom Venezuela.

That network will be 8,700 miles long by 2008 or 2009. At the same
time, the National Telecommunications Commission will issue an
invitation to tender for another 3,100 miles, as part of a project
that is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Some 90 Venezuelan professionals and technicians trained in China are
already working on the satellite project.

Venezuelan authorities will build their own satellites to improve
telecommunications, medicine, education, and communications among
public institutions, production centers, social organizations and
communities.

The "Simon Bolivar" satellite, which will cost 240 million dollars,
will be launched from China after the Olympic Games, and Venezuela
will have total autonomy to operate it.

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