Formentera Council files numerous official petitions with Telefònica representative

This morning a meeting was held at the behest of the Formentera Island Council with the eastern regional director of Telefònica's operational and network technical support, Gerardo Salvà.

The meeting, attended by Council president Jaume Ferrer, counsellor of Infrastructure Santi Juan, counsellor of Environment, Industry and Energy Silvia Tur and Infrastructure and Information Technology's technical coordinators, was called to address the repeated problems met by infrastructural and new technology projects on the island. Specifically, the aim of the meeting was to discuss hold-ups to the opening of the new Sant Ferran bypass road and other long-standing communication problems that have been caused by Telefònica.

The Formentera Council representatives relayed their concerns respecting the delay in opening the Sant Ferran ring-road to traffic (originally planned for the beginning of May), caused both by the presence of a telephone pole in the middle of the road as well as a transport telephone line cutting across traffic at various points at very low levels of clearance.

The burying of the cables in question has been anticipated since construction began and moreover affirmed by an agreement between the Council and Telefònica, which places the responsibility of civil engineering duties in the hands of the Formentera Council and the task of transferring the affected cables in the hands of the Telefònica company.

At today's meeting Gerardo Salvà committed to finding a solution to the problem that would allow for the bypass road's opening by Monday at the latest. Furthermore, the Council representatives reiterated the need to streamline Telefònica projects on Formentera, since these have historically caused delays to public works on the island and greatly affected the local population. On numerous occasions this issue has been brought to the attention of the Council by different neighbourhood associations.

Another point regarding infrastructural work on the island in recent years has been the Formentera Council's burying of many overhead cables. Many of these projects have yet to be completed because action by Telefònica is still necessary.

With respect to telecommunications on the island, another petition brought forth by the Council was for improvements to Internet and 3G service. The deficiency of these services is especially clear on the northern zone of the island – from Sant Ferran to La Mola – and also in Es Cap de Barbaria. For this reason, the Council requested that the Telefònica company employ greater investment power in order to guarantee optimal coverage for the island as a whole.

To resolve these issues, the Council of Formentera has committed to redacting a report outlining the problems and deficiencies affecting the island, and the Telefònica representative to conducting a thorough study of ADSL coverage on the island.

Likewise, the company's representative committed to sending a Telefònica technical support representative to monitor the solution process for the issues addressed at today's meeting and to solve any that continue to be problematic.

Both sides are eager and willing to cooperate and Telefònica has assured that the actions in question will be completed before year end.