News
A new submarine cable to the Galapagos Islands has been announced by the President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno. Expected to be ready for service by 2022, the 1280km cable will connect Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.
The project was launched in 2018 by CNT EP (Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, Ecuador) and later received investment from GCS (Galapagos Cable Systems). GCS will lead the construction of the system in partnership with Xtera. Xtera, a provider of subsea fibre optic solutions, will carry out the design and construction work on a turnkey basis utilising their SDM repeater solution. The cable will be supplied by Prysmian/NSW and the marine installation process will be undertaken by International Telecom.
The cable’s capacity of 20 terabits per second is expected to boost capacity to the Galapagos Islands tenfold and will provide 2500 times more bandwidth than is currently available. The project will provide significant benefits for tourism, scientific research, education and commerce in the region.
Wladimir Vargas, MD of GCS, said: “With this new cable system, connected services and the IOT will be available to the entire community, bringing with them a wealth of new opportunities and a boost of revenues for existing businesses. I look forward to working with Xtera to make the Galapagos Islands the best-connected place to live in harmony with the environment.”
Keith Henderson, Chief Executive Officer of Xtera added: “By selecting Xtera, GCS have chosen the best optical technology available in the world today. Our teams of industry experts will deliver the Galapagos cable system to the highest levels of quality and reliability standards.”
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