Azores Government Signs Fiber Optic Cable Contract
By The Portugal News
March 15, 2024
The Government of the Azores has welcomed the signing of the contract for the new submarine fiber optic cable which will connect the continent to the archipelago and Madeira, despite there remaining “important questions”.
Alcatel will build and install the submarine cable system which will connect the Mainland, Azores and Madeira (CAM), representing an investment of €154.4 million, scheduled to be finalised by 2026, with Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) managing operations.
The contract regarding the design, construction, supply, installation and operation of the submarine fiber telecommunications cable was signed by IP and Alcatel Submarine Networks on March 13.
Cited in a press release from the Azorean executive, the regional director of Comunicações e da Transação Digital, Pedro Batista, considered this “a good day for the Azores and Portugal, despite the four year-delay”.
However, Pedro Batista stated “important questions remain” to which the region has yet to receive answer, such as “who and what guarantees the function of the current solution until the new system is finalised and operational”.
Among the remaing questions is “when the Republic will address the issue of the replacement of the connection of inter-island submarine cables, which are no longer as useful but are responsible for the digital connectivity among the islands in the region and the other seven to the rest of the world”.
The regional director also questioned “how the foreseen 50 percent reduction will be transferred to citizens and companies in the Azores, and how will the region be guaranteed access to new scientific data from the SMART component”.
The current system, which has been in operation since 1999, has the capacity of around 300 gigabytes per second, while the new system will have the capacity of approximately 150 terabytes.
The new system, Ring CAM, will allow improvements in communications performance and with a “lower price”
