The cable will consist of five sections; linking Ceará state capital Fortaleza to the US with a branch reaching Colombia, a second section connecting Fortaleza and Europe and a third cable connecting from Fortaleza to Africa via the Angolan capital, Luanda, which extends to the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. A fourth section will connect from Fortaleza to Santos, in São Paulo state, with a branch to Rio de Janeiro and a final section will connect from Santos to the Uruguayan city of Maldonado, and the Argentine municipality of Las Toninas.
The Brazilian government is working with a shortlist of partners to finance and build the project. Only Brazilian companies will be selected to be the winning partner, according to Telebrás’ innovation and technology manager, Paulo Eduardo Kapp.
The estimated time for completion of the project is 5-6 years, at a cost of approximately $1.13billion, with the separate section that links Fortaleza to the US expected to be completed in time for the 2014 FIFAWorld Cup.
Local press suggests that the government is considering an MoU with Brazil’s construction conglomerate, Odebrecht, to form a joint venture.
Recent statistics from Cisco suggest that there will be a continuing increase in demand for additional submarine cable capacity in the coming years. Brazilian mobile data traffic is forecast to multiply 19 times from 2011-2016, with an annual growth rate of 79% in 2016.
