The internet is going high-speed for the millions of tourists who visit the Cancún-Tulum corridor of Quintana Roo as interest grows in investing in fiber optic communications in the region.

Wireless broadband developer Cobalt Holdings is spearheading the trend with its plans to lay a 180-kilometer fiber optic network in the northern part of the state to cater to the hotel industry.

Company president Lawrence Malone explained that the firm is interested in the economic potential of northern Quintana Roo due to its more than 100,000 hotel rooms, high occupancy rates and investments in the hotel and services industries that have been announced.

The newspaper El Economista explained that the Cancún-Tulum corridor is one of the world’s fastest-growing tourist destinations, with more than 17 million visitors per year whose economic impact is over US $7 billion.

Cobalt Holdings’ focus on the hotel industry comes at a time when hotels are shifting from the traditional business model to co-living and co-working spaces, shared living quarters and offices that are in demand by professionals working away from a traditional office.

The head of the Quintana Roo Institute for Innovation and Technology told El Economista that other firms have also shown interest in fiber optic communications, including the local Lomastel Telecommunicación and China’s state-owned telecommunications company China Telecom.

Marco Antonio Bravo Fabián explained that established companies like Telmex and Grupo Salinas continue to invest and expand their fiber optic networks in the state.

He explained that the state has received some 400 million pesos (US $21 million) in fiber optic communications investments in recent years, given the appeal of the Caribbean hotel industry and the needs of the public sector, which will only go up next year when the federal Tourism Secretariat moves to the capital of the state.

Source: El Economista (sp)