Telconet's CSN-1 cable completes branching units, landing points

Ecuador's Telconet completed all the branching units, repeaters, and the main terrestrial and underwater segments of its 4,500km long Carnival Submarine Networks–1 (CSN-1) cable, BNamericas was told.

“Upcoming planned activities include cable loading and maritime operations, which are primarily scheduled for the first half of 2025,” Francisco Villacreses, Telconet’s commercial VP for Latin America, told BNamericas.

The construction of the cable is being carried out by Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), Nokia's submarine division, which is in the process of being acquired by the French government. 

Manufacturing is concentrated in France, at ASN's Calais plant.

ASN is also the supplier of the ground optical submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) for the cable.

Telconet will now begin a process to select the electronics supplier to illuminate the optical fiber pairs in the system.

“For now, Ciena and Infinera, two undisputed leaders in the industry, have approached us and have already presented their technical solutions. We have seen their current technological advances and their future projections. In the next few days, this bidding process will begin with the invitation to participate,” said Villacreses.

The estimated ready-for-service date for CSN-1 is the first quarter of 2026, Villacreses said.

CSN-1 will be the first submarine cable to land on the west coast of Florida.

When ready, it will run 4,500km from Ancón in Ecuador to Naples in Florida, with landing points in Panama (Panama City, Pacific coast; Cristóbal, Atlantic coast) and Colombia (Barranquilla).

The system will also have additional branching units strategically located along the main route, located underwater, for future expansions.

Among those planned are Guatemala, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Once completed, CSN-1 will provide shorter routes and, thus, the lowest latency connections between the US, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador, according to Telconet.

CSN-1 is also the first submarine cable incorporating the “Open Cable” technology to be deployed in Central and South America, said Villacreses.

This open architecture by ASN is designed to be carrier neutral and provide open access to multiple carriers at each of the CSN-1 landing stations.

The system has obtained a local license from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to land and start operating.