News
- Luiz Alberto Rasseli Junior
Open Call: Second Request for Information (RFI) to those interested in being part of the BELLA II project
The call for Latin American and Caribbean governments, EU delegations in the region, telecommunications and related companies, and all interested parties in the public and private sectors to participate in this RFI, which seeks to determine potential existing and/or planned connectivity infrastructure projects that could have synergies with the objectives of BELLA II in Latin America and the Caribbean, is open until November 5. Questions will be answered from October 2 to 9, 2024.
BELLA II (Building the European Link to Latin America and the Caribbean) seeks to close the digital divide in the region and strengthen and expand the Latin American and Caribbean digital ecosystem. To this end, it is analysing the potential interest of various public and private sector actors in being part of the project through different alternatives for association and provision of services. The instrument “Request for Information (RFI) from Interested Parties” will serve to achieve this objective.
Under the understanding that appropriate connectivity and a strengthened digital ecosystem are the fundamental aspects to facilitate relationships and exchanges between companies, research centres, educational institutions and academic networks, the result of this RFI will be a driving force for achieving the goals strategic objectives of strengthening education, science, technology and innovation of BELLA II (project coordinated by RedCLARA and co-financed by the European Union).
In the framework of the development of the BELLA II project, the first RFI was published between December 12, 2023, and February 3, 2024. Its purpose was to invite public and private sector actors to join the BELLA II project through different forms of association and provision of services to meet its connectivity requirements.
This call managed to capture comments and observations from government entities, local operators from initially prioritized countries, and some international operators who could collaborate to develop projects or provide the capacities required to deploy BELLA II.
As a result of reviewing these comments, additional analyses by agents interested in developing BELLA II, and a new market review, it was decided to expand the project’s scope. This expansion is particularly focused on the Caribbean to link island nations and territories that have ties with European nations—favoring the synergy that has characterized cooperation projects between Europe and Latin America for deploying advanced networks.
Based on this, a new request for information has been made. The goal is to update previously required information and expand it following the newly proposed scope to gauge interest and gather specific information from potential stakeholders in BELLA II.
In the document “Request for Information from Interested Parties”, in addition to finding all the details about RedCLARA, the infrastructure needs, the required service conditions and the alternatives for participation in this project are described. Likewise, at the end of the document a series of guiding questions are posed to determine the participants' interest in being part of the project. The information provided will be handled confidentially and for BELLA II purposes only.
We would appreciate that questions regarding this RFI be submitted by October 9, 2024, and responses be sent by November 5, 2024, to the following email address: RFI_BELLAII@redclara.net.
The answers will be published at: BELLA II - Infraestructure Request for information RFI- Consultas - Confluence (atlassian.net).
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