Announcement of Fifteen Million US Dollars Loan to Colombia for Telecommunications on May 20, 1971

i f\J'"fERf\JATION.A R • NSTR 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHfNGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Bank Press Release No. 71/30 Subject: $15.0 million loan to Colombia May 20, 1971 for telecommunications The World Bank has approved a $15. O million loan for a $32. 4 million telecommunications project in Colombia that will contribute to meeting a rapidly growing demand for local, long distance and telex servicea. The project is expected to make a significant contributior. to economic development by increasing the efficiency of operations in government, industry and commerce. The telecommunications sector in Colombia is less • well developed than some other public servi.ces and requires substantial in vestments • The components of the project are designed in accordance with the development priorities of the sector. They include the installation of 42,000 lines of local exchange equipment of which 18,000 will be for 200 small towns, with a total population of two million, presently lacking a telephone service. The components also include the construction of new microwave links on routes presently served by VHF systems; the establishment of 16 new VHF routes to replace service by open wire lines; the provision of 620 supple- mentary voice frequency channels on existing microwave and VHF routes; and the installation of three new trunk switching exchanges and of ten new toll ticketing facilities. Finally, 1,000 additional lines in the Bogota telex • exchange and 1,000 new teleprinters will be provided. /more  Bank P.R. No. 71/30 ·· Color.lbia. - tefocommcn:!.cations - 2 - Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Telecom), an autonomous • agency established in 194 7, will carry out the project which forms about r 80% of its 1971-74 expansion program. This will be the World Bank's second loan to Telecom. In 1967 the Bank lent the company $16.0 million to help finance a $27.6 million project to improve and expand domestic and international telephone, telegraph and telex networks. The loan to Telecom (Carrera 13A, No. 22-54, Bogota) is guaranteed by the Republic of Colombia. It is for a term of 20 years, including a 4-year grace period, with interest at 7~%. Eight financial institutions are participating in the loan for a combined total amount of $570,000: National Bank of Detroit; Central National Bank of Cleveland; The Fidelity Bank, Philadelphia; Security • Pacific National Bank, Los Angeles; Industrial National Bank of Providence; The Northern Trust Company, Chicago; First Western Bank and Trust Company, Los A11geles; and First Wisconsin National Bank of Milwaukee. - 0 - •