OLD SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – AeroNet, Puerto Rico's leading high-speed business internet service provider, announced today that it will pilot Terragraph, a gigabit wireless technology by Facebook Connectivity, in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. With Terragraph, AeroNet aims to deliver reliable and affordable high-speed broadband to the heritage city. The trial deployment will improve on the city's digital infrastructure and ensure greater availability of broadband services for the residents of Old San Juan.

Historically, the city's infrastructure and UNESCO status has made it economically challenging to provide fiber speed connectivity throughout Old San Juan, limiting residents' access to reliable, high-quality internet. Terragraph is a unique and innovative solution to this challenge, allowing for rapid deployment of an unlicensed 60GHz multi-gigabit wireless network using existing building assets to create a robust wireless mesh distribution network at a lower cost than that of a trenched fiber network.

AeroNet currently covers around 60 percent of the city of Old San Juan, and with this six-month trial, which is now live, people in or near Plaza de Armas and Plaza San Jose in Old San Juan can access AeroNet's fixed wireless and public Wi-Fi services, powered by Terragraph. Following the trial, AeroNet will review the results and determine next steps.

"AeroNet is committed to providing the people of Puerto Rico with quality and affordable access to the internet," said Gino Villarini, Founder and President of AeroNet. "Partnering with Facebook to pilot Terragraph allows us to advance that goal by offering the people of Old San Juan a high-gigabit internet experience while bringing innovative technology to a historical site in Puerto Rico. Looking ahead, we are excited about the potential opportunities Terragraph provides to expand high-quality gigabit internet experience throughout the island of Puerto Rico."

"With Terragraph, Facebook is building a robust and collaborative ecosystem of chipset vendors, equipment manufacturers and service providers to bring high-quality connectivity to urban and suburban areas, in addition to rural clusters," said Dan Rabinovitsj, Vice President for Facebook Connectivity. "We believe that everyone, in every corner of the globe, deserves a consistent, high-bandwidth internet experience and we're excited to partner with AeroNet on this pilot to expand connectivity in Old San Juan."

Facebook Connectivity began working on Terragraph in 2016 to bring gigabit speeds to support data demand of urban and suburban residents and visitors, and to accelerate new smart-city services.

AeroNet