Guyana telco ENet says it has completed a multibillion-dollar subsea cable connecting the town of Bartica – billed as the gateway to Guyana’s interior – to its fibre-optic backbone.

According to an ENet post last Wednesday on Instagram, Bartica – which sits where the Cuyuni and Mazaruni Rivers converge with the Essequibo River that runs to the Atlantic Coast – will now be able to access the same gigabit-speed internet, 5G mobile coverage and advanced digital services previously only available on the coast.

Astra Services was a key partner in building out the subsea cable across challenging terrain, including two major rivers (the Essequibo and the Demerara, which required innovation, resilience, and strong collaboration, said ENet CEO Vishok Persaud.

“The project was extraordinarily challenging as it required finding a viable route and running fibre through the trails,” Persaud said at the cable’s launch event last week, according to local news site New Room.

ENet (formerly known as E-Networks) said its fibre backbone is the largest in Guyana, and now connects seven of the country’s ten administrative regions. It’s also the only operator with subsea cables running to Region 2 (Pomeroon-Supenaam along the northwest coast) and Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni, of which Bartica is the regional capital), the report said.