[SatNews] HISPASAT and Bansat are providing satellite telecommunication services for the Ruta BBVA 2015 in areas without connectivity

This year, the Ruta BBVA will have a Kiosco Vive Digital Móvil, operated by NEC and using HISPASAT’s satellite capacity, in order to ensure connectivity. The Ruta BBVA is a journey that combines education in values, cultural exchange, training in social enterprise and adventure. Over the course of twenty-nine editions, more than 9,000 young people from around the world have had the opportunity to travel and discover human, geographical, social and historical aspects of other cultures.

Artistic rendition of HISPASAT 1C satellite. Image courtesy of HISPASAT.

The Ruta BBVA 2015 is starting its journey across Colombia on its thirtieth edition. Over the coming days, 200 students from the Americas, Spain and Portugal will have an amazing educational experience, in addition to experiencing social commitment, within a cultural and adventure exchange framework. As they travel across Colombia, the members of the expedition will visit cities such as Aracataca, Bucaramanga, Barichara, Curití, Villa de Leyva, Tunja or Boyacá, and they will discover sites such as Tayrona National Natural Park or Chicamocha Canyon. In many of these places, the connectivity for telecommunication services is very limited, and the Ruta BBVA needs to use a satellite connection in order to access the Internet and voice and data services.

The Spanish satellite and telecommunications operator, HISPASAT, has been the technological collaborator for the Ruta BBVA for the past 12 years, providing these services in the different Latin American countries where it has traveled. In this 2015 edition, the operator will provide the Ruta with Ku-band space capacity from its satellite Hispasat 1C to make available the necessary connectivity in  rural and remote areas of the country.

The Colombian company Banta will provide and manage the technical equipment needed on the ground to connect with
the satellite and ensure the service works correctly. In addition, this year the members of the expedition and journalists following the Ruta will have a Kiosco Vive Digital Móvil, thanks to the Colombia’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and NEC de Colombia, which will provide satellite Internet access and voice and data services to the participants. In this way, the expedition members will be able to send news and photos to the media, connect using telephones or video-conferencing and have several computers connected via broadband to the Internet in order to communicate with their family and friends.