Azores Government Calls for Submarine Cable Working Party
By Natasha Donn, Portugal Resident
May 9, 2024
The government of the Azores is pushing for central government attention to its submarine cable network, explaining that “obsolescence” of the inter-island fibre optic cable ring looms. The infrastructure responsible for connecting the islands of Santa Maria, Terceira, Faial, Pico, São Jorge and Graciosa to the islands of Flores and Corvo and the island of São Miguel – and therefore the digital connectivity of these eight islands to the Portuguese mainland and the rest of the world is already showing “some weaknesses that raise fears for the continuity and quality of the important digital connectivity service it supports”. In a letter to infrastructure (and housing) minister Miguel Pinto Luz, the Azorean government requests the “urgent creation of a working group to analyse the most appropriate technical solution” as quickly as possible.
