Ana Abrunhosa announced this international competition in Tondela, during the presentation of a pilot project by the Intermunicipal Community (CIM) Viseu Dão Lafões, “Ir e Vir”. A flexible public transport project tailored to the needs for locations that are not served by public buses.

The objective, she highlighted, “is to have in at least all inter-municipal communities in the interior, not only this flexible and on-demand transport, but also closer health projects, closer public services, closer culture”.

“Even because today's technology allows it. Instead of multiplying equipment and infrastructure, we bring services to people and this brings us to another issue: the absence of digital connectivity in many spaces in the interior territory”, she admitted.

In this regard, she stated that her Ministry is coordinating a working group with the Ministries of Infrastructure and Housing and of Economy, to define and identify all the territories that do not have internet coverage.

Inland, she said, "operators do not go without support, without financing" to be able to provide these territories "with fixed and mobile digital connectivity, because that is the objective" and, for that, the Ministry has already provided for funds, " within the scope of PT2030 of the next community framework” to launch the tender.

“I would like the tender procedure for operators to come before the end of the year. We are talking about an investment of around 400 million euros, this is the estimate we have and, therefore, we will be launching an international public tender by the end of the year”, she announced.

For now, she explained, the working group of the three ministries, which Territorial Cohesion is coordinating, is "at the moment, carrying out a survey with the operators, with the support of ANACOM".