The European Commission on Thursday announced it will contribute €25 million towards the construction of a new submarine cable connecting Europe to Latin America.
A consortium led by Brazilian fixed-line incumbent Telebras and Spanish cableco Islalink will build the cable, which will run between Lisbon, Portugal and Fortaleza, Brazil.
"This initiative will bring our continents closer and boost education, research and innovation as well as business exchanges," said a statement from the European Commission. "It will reduce connection costs and provide many more households, organisations and companies with a high-speed Internet connection."
Today, Latin America relies on submarine cables going to the U.S. to carry 85%-90% of its communications to Europe. There is a submarine cable between Latin America and Europe, but it is outdated and only used for voice transmission, the EU said.
The new cable is expected to be operational by the end of 2017.
"This cable will empower our continents to benefit fully from the opportunities offered by new technologies," the Commission said.
The announcement was made during the EU-CELAC (Community of Latin America and Caribbean States) summit in Brussels this week, and is part of a €230 million commitment by the EU to support economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean.
