When you drive about forty kilometers east of Panama City, past the airport and into the green outskirts of Chepo, you reach Tanara Chepo: a small community that, until recently, had no fixed broadband access. Fiber couldn’t reach it economically. For residents, that meant TV without apps, phones without Wi-Fi, and kids who couldn’t stream educational videos.

That’s where our partnership with Liberty Latin America began. Together, we set out to change that.

Finding a Better Way

The nearest fiber hub sat just 300 meters away, serving a new housing development. Extending fiber all the way to Tanara Chepo homes would have cost more than it could ever return. But with power lines already running on wooden poles, we realized we could build something smarter: wireless access from the outside in.

Turning Poles into Internet Hubs

We installed three outdoor VeeaHubs running AirLynx right on those existing poles and linked them directly to the nearby GPON terminal. Each access point became a tiny edge network, serving seven to eight homes: no indoor hardware needed. Even better, each unit included two hours of backup power, so the connection would stay alive when the lights flickered. We designed the system so every device shares bandwidth fairly, keeping everyone online smoothly.

A New Kind of TV Experience

Instead of technicians and complex installs, residents just received a small TV set-top box. Plug it in, connect it to Wi-Fi, and the ordinary TV suddenly became a smart TV—apps, replay, and streaming, all included.

For many homes, this was their first real taste of connected TV. Families who only had DTH satellite service could now stream YouTube, explore apps, and watch lessons for their kids right from the same screen.

Easy Access, Simple Payments

Connectivity had to be simple and affordable. The solution was integrated with the same prepaid wireless service consumers were already using for mobile top-ups. Through our app:

1. Users log in with their phone number or email.
2. They enter a prepaid PIN.
3. The system activates their plan—$5 covers 5 days for 5 devices.
4. Each device gets its own password to join the shared Wi-Fi network.

No billing confusion. No paperwork. Just connection.

What It Means for the Community

Soon after the launch, the data spoke for itself: YouTube became the most used app, primarily for educational videos for children. What began as a technical trial became a real shift in daily life—kids learning, families streaming, people joining the online world for the first time.

For us at Veea, working alongside Liberty Latin America, Tanara Chepo is more than a successful deployment. It’s proof that smart, edge-based connectivity can bridge the digital divide: one community at a time.

If you’d like to learn more about how Veea and Liberty Latin America are connecting underserved communities with smart, scalable edge technology, reach out to us. Whether you’re exploring rural broadband, community Wi-Fi, or edge-powered content delivery, we’d love to share what we’ve learned in Tanara Chepo – and help you bring the same kind of connection to your next project.