Huawei Marine Networks Co. Ltd., the Chinese company’s submarine cable networks specialist, partnered with Portuguese telecoms engineering firm Viatel to build the 685-km Flores-Corvo undersea cable system that connects remote Portuguese islands.
Prior to the completion of the Flores-Corvo submarine cable system, seven islands of the Archipelago of the Azores were connected via the Azores Domestic Cable System, but two – Corvo and Flores – depended on basic satellite communications. The completed Flores-Corvo Submarine Cable System now enables all nine islands of the Archipelago of the Azores to be interconnected, with backbone connectivity to European, African, and trans-Atlantic submarine cables.
The cable system features three diverse segments, consisting of six landing points to provide essential links to international cable systems, such as the trans-Atlantic Columbus3 submarine network, to enable a broad range of services to be delivered to this region.
The new subsea cable system, which features enhanced Raman technology and Huawei Marine’s OptiX BWS 1600S submarine line terminal equipment, will provide communications to service local demand. The network will becomes an integral part of Viatel's fiber-optic network, which includes over 100 points-of-presence in 35 key cities.
During the project, Huawei Marine says its dedicated delivery team overcame significant operational challenges due to the islands' remote location and geographical landscape. These included protecting the cable on a 22-m cliff off the Flores shore and successfully completing the build within 10 months.
"It has been a challenging project with complex needs, but Huawei Marine demonstrated great flexibility and dedication," said Viatel CTO, José Luis Nogueira.
As requested by Viatel, the submarine cable is designed with a 0.96-Tbps total capacity and speeds of 10 Gbps with the capacity to be upgraded to 100 Gbps in future.
By enabling high-speed Internet, the Flores-Corvo submarine cable system will strengthen the communication infrastructure for the Archipelago of the Azores and help increase Corvo’s and Flores' attractiveness as tourist destinations.
Huawei Marine says it has carried out a number of successful submarine cable system projects in 2013, including connecting the remote islands of Boracay and Palawan in the Philippines, and the Silphium system linking Darnah in Libya with Chania in Greece.
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