EllaLink will provide a secured connection between French Guiana, home of the European Space Centre, and continental Europe through a new high-capacity and low-latency route.
Dublin – Cayenne, 18/01/2024 – SPLANG, part of Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane (CTG) and the associated municipalities of French Guiana, has awarded the establishment of an 8,000 km submarine connection to EllaLink, the first high-capacity optic fibre submarine cable directly connecting Latin America to Europe. The contract includes the construction of a new 2,100km cable extension to the existing EllaLink cable.
This new submarine branch will land in Cayenne, French Guiana, and include 2 fibre pairs. The system will be built by Alcatel Submarine Networks and use state-of-the-art optical technologies such as a ROADM WSS branching unit, allowing direct connectivity without regeneration from French Guiana to continental Europe with an RTD latency of less than 80ms. The new infrastructure will also enable direct connections from French Guiana to Fortaleza, Brazil.
French Guiana is one of the nine outermost regions of the European Union and a land of strategic importance as it hosts the launch pads for Arianne Space Rockets. Being so remote from Continental Europe makes it difficult for the region to enjoy a direct and secure connection with the rest of Europe. To address this situation, the project benefits from funding under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program, underscoring its significance and alignment with European Commission Digital Gateway priorities for robust and secure infrastructure.
The project will protect French Guiana’s existing connection to the global network with a fully diverse and low-latency connection. With the new link, it will be possible for French Guiana to guarantee the sovereignty of its infrastructure to the space and research industry, strongly established in French Guiana through the presence of the CNES (Centre National d’ Etudes Spatiales) and the Guiana Space Centre (European base for space research and transportation).
© ESA/CNES/Arianespace Technical Centre at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana
Connecting Cayenne and beyond
The new system, along with other recent cable developments, reinforces French Guiana as a new telecommunication hub, attracting data flows from the West Indies and the sub-region. This link will offer new opportunities across the region by delivering direct connectivity to Europe by bypassing North America.
EllaLink network map with the representation of the new branch to French Guiana
Through this new build, EllaLink also aims to stimulate the development of new infrastructure, including connections to the underserved Amazonian region of Brazil.
According to Vincent Gatineau, SVP of Subsea Infra Development at EllaLink, “the construction of this new submarine branch represents an important milestone for the EllaLink network mission and a confirmation of its savoir-faire to connect underserved territories. This initiative will not only reinforce the French Guiana infrastructure resilience but also generate a change of paradigm for the whole Caribbean region’s connectivity pattern. The EllaLink team is very proud to partner with SPLANG in such a relevant project and to have been awarded with the financial support of the CEF program.”
Marie-Lucienne Rattier, president of SPLANG, added, “This project marks a new milestone in the SPLANG mission to serve the French Guiana population in accelerating the digital development of our territory. Following the fibre deployment and the satellite project, we’re now securing our international connectivity in the long term, ensuring sovereignty and catalysing the economic growth of French Guiana.”
About SPLANG
The Société Publique Locale pour l’Aménagement Numérique de la Guyane (SPLANG) (local public company for the digital development of French Guiana) is owned by the CTG (Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane) and other local authorities and municipalities of French Guiana. It is the local authorities’ operational arm for the digital development of French Guiana. Created in 2014, SPLANG promotes the deployment of infrastructure operated by its shareholders (such as the fibre network and the satellite network in French Guiana). SPLANG is involved in financing its own infrastructure such as satellite relays, FTTO networks or international connectivity, supports and coordinates the development of digital uses, and acts as a public service operator in situations where private initiative is lacking. For more information, visit: https://www.splang.fr/
About EllaLink
EllaLink is an optic fibre submarine cable system offering secure high-capacity connectivity on a unique low-latency transatlantic route serving the growing needs of the Latin American and European markets. The EllaLink network directly connects Brazil and Europe, linking the major hubs of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza with Lisbon, Madrid and Marseille.
The EllaLink System has been built with state-of-the-art coherent technology, initially offering 100Tbps of transatlantic capacity over four direct fibre pairs between Europe and Brazil. EllaLink is a privately funded and independent company committed to providing products and services on a Carrier-Neutral and Open-Access basis. Marguerite, a pan-European infrastructure investor active in the renewables, energy, transport and digital transformation sectors, is the main shareholder of EllaLink. For more information, visit: ella.link
Media contacts:
Clara Casanova
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