Brazil telcos hire China’s ZTT as fiber supplier for 3 Amazon underwater cables

Brazilian telcos hired China’s ZTT International Submarine Cable & System as the cable supplier for further three stretches of the government-sponsored Amazon river fiber project Norte Conectado.

Norte Conectado was created by the communications ministry with the goal of expanding communications infrastructure in the Amazon region through an underwater fiber backbone, composed of eight stretches, called Infovias, along rivers in the Amazon basin.

Investments in the area are obligatory for winners of the 2021 5G spectrum auction. The winners created EAF to oversee these mandatory investments.

Cables from ZTT International will be used to supply Infovias 02, 03 and 04, which will provide broadband connection to 22 municipalities in the region. In total, ZTT will produce, test and delivery 2,345 km of underwater cables and 456km of terrestrial ones.

All cables are scheduled to be delivered in Q3, according to ZTT. In a statement, the company said "this is the most extended non-repeater submarine fiber optic cable awarded to ZTT in the South American market."

PREVIOUS STRETCHES

Infovias 00 and 01 are already underway. The 770km stretch one, Infovia 00, was completed in February last year, connecting Macapá (Amapá state) to Alenquer (Pará). Italy’s Prysmian was the cable supplier, having been contracted in 2021 for US$5.54mn.

The deployment of Infovia 01 was expected to be completed this March. As reported by BNamericas, Chinese fiber optics manufacturer Hengtong was hired as the cable supplier for this second, 1,100km stretch.

Infovia 01 will connect Santarém (Pará) and Manaus (Amazonas), with branches to Óbidos (Pará), Juruti (Pará), Parintins (Amazonas), Urucurituba (Amazonas) and Itacoatiara (Amazonas), as well as to Oriximiná (Pará), Terra Santa (Pará) and Autazes (Amazonas).