equineThe Submarine cable uniting Africa with Europe, finally arrives in Portugal. THE equine gives Google, presented three years ago, part of Western Europe and runs along the west coast of Africa and connects Portugal with South Africa. In other words, increase connectivity and opportunities for participation between countries in Europe and Africa.
To receive it, Altice Portugal, responsible for the MEO operator, presented itself for the first time. The availability of specific infrastructures and the experience and know-how in the sector are the factors that make Altice Portugal, owner of the operator MEO, the supplier of the submarine cable station for the Equiano cable mooring in Portugal.
Altice Portugal receives the Equiano submarine cable from Google
More specifically, it is located in the International Submarine Cable Station of sowing gives Portugal that will moor this new submarine cable. This element will directly connect South Africa and several countries on the west coast of Africa with Europe.
Portugal assumes a strategic role given its geographical location
Portugal is assumed to be the termination and interconnection hub for the capacity and traffic of international submarine cables due to its privileged geographic location. Something that is due to the extensive Atlantic coast and vast maritime territory. Thus allowing the connection between continents and the attraction of foreign investment.
Altice Portugal plays a strategic role, in terms of consulting and infrastructure services, backed by its historical experience of more than half a century in this area of submarine telecommunications at a national and international level.
This cable, with the name of Olaudah Equianoa Nigerian-born writer and abolitionist who was enslaved as a child, offers state-of-the-art infrastructure.
The space division multiplexing (SDM) technology on which Equiano is based will increase cable capacity in the region for a variety of network operators and Internet service providers in Europe and Africa. Either for own use or to facilitate third parties.
Thus, thanks to its branching units along the route, this system will provide the flexibility to dynamically respond to the capacity needs of these network operators. This, as well as Google Cloud customers.
Furthermore, it will create opportunities to extend connectivity to other African countries in the coming years, increasing the value of this infrastructure in many areas.
Greater flexibility and responsiveness for Google
These connectivity improvements represent a great opportunity for Portugal. The country that in recent years has become a submarine cable hub, not only because of its strategic geographical position but also because of the country’s focus on developing and strengthening its digital economy.
In fact, thanks to the EllaLink cable, the submarine cable that connects Portugal with Brazil and Equiano, Portugal can count on strong improvements in terms of higher bandwidth and lower latency, which will ultimately have a positive impact on trade and the economy.
Several improvements that can contribute to the development of Portugal
- Connectivity has a direct impact on trade, with exports increasing by up to 8% when the number of internet cables is doubled.
- The potential long-term impact associated with improving Portugal’s digital infrastructure could be up to €500 million more per year in GDP.
- Cable projects like EllaLink and Equiano can support operating telecommunications partners that provide high-quality, efficient broadband access, benefiting a broad set of end users.
These and other conclusions were recently published in the blog google portugalsigned by Bernardo Correia, Country Manager, Portugal.
