Telconet Picks Vertiv for Colombia CLS
Ecuador’s Telconet Pushes Past Controversy, Chooses Vertiv to Build Cable Landing Station in Colombia
By Jason Ma, Data Center Dynamics
May 12, 2025
Ecuadorian telecoms company Telconet has chosen Vertiv, a provider of critical digital infrastructure, to build a cable landing station (CLS) in Colombia for subsea cable Carnival Submarine Networks-1 (CSN-1).
The CLS will be constructed in Playa Salgar, a beach located west of the northern city of Barranquilla. Edge services will be provided.
This announcement reinforces Telconet’s commitment to the project amid various controversies, the most pertinent of which is the company’s legal ability to operate submarine cable services.
On November 14th, 2024, the Ecuadorian government’s telecoms regulatory body Arcotel terminated the operating license held by Cable Andino, which manages Telconet’s subsea holdings. It attributed this decision to financial and regulatory irregularities discovered in the wake of Cable Andino’s request to connect a new subsea cable, which is likely CSN-1.
The license was granted in 2015, the same year Cable Andino installed a subsea cable connected to the Pacific Caribbean Cable System (PCCS).
Arcotel said that continuity of service would be guaranteed to all of Cable Andino’s customers until the relevant assets are taken into state ownership.
Telconet asserted that the government’s limited experience operating submarine cables was putting Ecuador’s Internet service at risk.
The company also claimed that the ruling was influenced by politics, referencing the presidential candidacy of Jan Topic, son of Telconet CEO Tomislav Topic, in the April 2025 general election.
A few days prior to Arcotel’s announcement, Jan Topic was disqualified from the election on the basis of constitutional prohibitions relating to divestments from state contracts and stakes in involved companies. He was running against Daniel Noboa, the incumbent president who recently won re-election.
In December of 2024, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) sanctioned Telconet, Cable Andino Corpandino, Tomislav, and Jan Topic on the grounds of corruption. Telconet said they respected the decision, stating they would adhere to IDB recommendations to enable the removal of sanctions.
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