Gauging interest in Petrobras’ fiber optics tender

Brazil state-run oil giant Petrobras plans to tender thousands of kilometers of fiber optic infrastructure this week to connect its onshore and offshore sites.

In a statement to BNamericas, the company confirmed a tender originally scheduled to take place in 2018 is in progress and that bids are expected to be received on Tuesday, September 3.

Petrobras did not say explain the process delayed.

According to the company, the tender is for the contracting of fiber optic infrastructure under a 20-year leasing contract to connect 17 platforms in the Santos and Campos basins (including the Espírito Santo area).

There is also the possibility of future interconnection of 16 additional platforms, Petrobras said.

BNamericas talked to some of the major fiber companies and infrastructure providers which might be interested in the process.

PRYSMIAN

Italian fiber manufacturer Prysmian said it will participate indirectly in the tender. 

“The tender is for an operation for 20 years. We are more focused on selling products with services attached to them, but not on the operation of the system itself,” Jeferson Werlich, global sales manager at Prysmian, told BNamericas.

Prysmian is working with certain companies that are specialized in the services requested by Petrobras and are expected to bid on it. 

In July, the group concluded the expansion of its Brazil fiber factory. 

FURUKAWA

Another major player in the fiber segment, Japanese manufacturer Furukawa, does not develop submarine cabling technology and will not be involved.

Furukawa is one of the market leaders in fiber optics and related cabling equipment in Latin America, selling solutions principally to carriers, ISPs, datacenter and industries. The company had projected LatAm sales of 1.2bn reais (US$287mn) for its latest fiscal year (through March 2019), for a 20% year-on-year increase.

Last year, the group opened a new connectivity plant and distribution center in the city of Curitiba, capital of Brazil's Paraná state. 

ANGOLA CABLES

Angola Cables has different submarine cable projects in place in South America, either by its own or in consortium with other players.

The Angolan group recently disclosed plans to turn its Fortaleza datacenter, which was activated in April, into an internet traffic exchange point enabling connection with 174 networks.

Angola Cables said it expects to transform the datacenter, created to be the landing point of its Africa-Brazil cable, into a connectivity marketplace to serve as a regional telecommunications hub.

In an interview to BNamericas last year, the CEO of the Angolan telecom group António Nunes revealed even bolder plans: to connect the BRICS leveraging on the different systems it operates individually or in partnership with other stakeholders in all the BRICS countries.

Asked about the Petrobras tender, the company said it would not participate.

SEABORN

Another company with important submarine fiber network projects in the continent is Seaborn Networks.

Seabras-1 connects São Paulo and the NY metro area through a 6-fiber pair, 72Tbps submarine cable system built, owned and operated by Seaborn. The system is operational since 2017 and reportedly offers the lowest latency path between the US and Brazil.

The company is currently working on the completion of an Argentine link to Seabras, the ARBR.

About the tender, Seaborn CEO Larry Schwartz said by email that company’s policy was "not to comment on such matters".

GLOBENET

GlobeNet is a wholesale telecoms provider that connects the Americas with an integrated portfolio of network, IP, datacenter and security services.

In June, the company announced it had completed the marine survey for its new subsea cable, Malbec. The system will link Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a unit branching to reach Porto Alegre, Brazil, in the future.

Last year, Globenet CEO Eduardo Falzoni told BNamericas that this was the most relevant submarine project reaching Argentina since 2001.

GlobeNet's link will add Argentina to the company's 23,500km network, which currently spans from Brazil to the US, with landing points in Colombia, Venezuela and Bermuda.

Globenet did not respond on Monday on whether it would take part in the Petrobras tender. 

Huawei Marine, a division of Chinese group Huawei that is currently on the selling block, was also not available for comment.