Ministry of Communications begins construction of fiber bacbone under the waters of Solimões River

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Portuguese.

From MCom

The Ministry of Communications began on Tuesday (21) work on installing Infovia 02, which will bring fiber optic internet to around 370,000 inhabitants of 13 cities in the Amazon region. With an investment of R$268 million, 1,100 km of under-river cables will be laid, in one of the largest connectivity projects in the world.

A platform coupled to two tugboats is deploying the cables under the waters of the Solimões River, with almost a hundred professionals working. The vessel leaves Tefé and goes to Benjamin Constant (AM), expected to arrive on February 18.

“This work is essential to bring internet to people who live in places that are difficult to access and have little coverage from operators. Let's bring connectivity to them, so that they can be inserted into the digital world and use more quality public services, such as the internet in the classroom. The increase in telecommunications infrastructure also brings direct benefits in the areas of education and research, health, justice and public security,” said the Minister of Communications, Juscelino Filho.

The operation will also pass through Alvarães, Uarini, Fonte Boa, Jutaí, Tonantins, Santo Antônio do Içá, Amaturá, São Paulo de Olivença, Belém do Solimões and Tabatinga. Infovia also includes the city of Atalaia do Norte (AM), but with a land connection from Benjamin Constant.

Infovia 02 will connect 85 public schools, 13 hospitals and eight research centers, in addition to enabling operators to offer more affordable internet packages for residents. In addition, each location will have a public square equipped with Wi-Fi, expanding internet access to the entire community.

When the launch is completed, the sub-river infrastructure will be connected to metropolitan networks in cities, which will bring high-speed connection to public schools, health units, courts and armed forces organizations, police battalions, research centers, river agency and around 12,000 indigenous people distributed in 30 villages, all located in Belém do Solimões.

Operation

A large apparatus was set up to guarantee the success of the operation. The platform has a kitchen, cafeteria, gym, outpatient clinic, accommodation, laundry, support boats and security provided by the Army. Several professionals are on board, such as engineers, geologists, geophysicists, vessel commanders, operators, chefs, environmental technicians and archaeologists.

The platform is set up to operate uninterruptedly, including in the early hours of the morning. The initiative also has a sustainability aspect, as the installation of the internet network submerged in rivers prevents trees from being cut using the most common cabling methods, whether aerially on poles or underground through burial.

The implementation is being carried out by the Band Administrative Entity (EAF), a non-governmental and non-profit entity created by determination of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), linked to the Ministry of Communications, based on the 5G auction for connectivity actions.

International agreement

This infovia is part of an international agreement signed in April last year between Juscelino Filho and the Minister of Information and Communications Technologies of Colombia, Mauricio Lizcano, to extend the infrastructure to the Colombian city of Leticia.

The agreement provides for the creation of a working group between the Telecommunications Secretariat of the Brazilian Ministry of Communications and the Vice-Ministry of Connectivity of the Colombian Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies.

Norte Conectado

The initiative is part of the Norte Conectado program, which aims to expand communications infrastructure in the Amazon region, through the implementation of 12,000 km of fiber optic cables submerged in rivers.

The investment in the Connected North is R$1.3 billion, with 10 million people benefiting and 59 municipalities served in Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima.

Each infovia is made of cables made up of 24 pairs of optical fiber. Each pair has a capacity of up to 20Tb per second, meaning it can simultaneously transmit the equivalent of 200,000 high-quality HD streaming videos. The cables were made to last at least 25 years submerged in rivers.

Infovias

Infovia 02 is the fifth to be made possible by the Brazilian government. The first was Infovia 00, which left Macapá (AP) and passed through the Pará cities of Almeirim, Monte Alegre, Santarém and Alenquer. Infovia 01 connected Manaus (AM) to nine municipalities, four in Amazonas (Parintins, Urucurituba, Itacoatiara and Autazes) and five in Pará (Curuá, Óbidos, Oriximiná, Juruti and Terra Santa).

Infovia 03, delivered last year, connected Belém (PA) to Macapá, taking fiber optic cables to the Pará municipalities of São Sebastião da Boa Vista, Curralinho, Bagre and Breves. In a second moment, the cities of Ponta de Pedras (PA) and Afuá (PA) were also interconnected.

The river part of Infovia 04 was implemented in November 2024. It consists of a total of 647 kilometers of fiber optic cables, 515 km of which are underwater. This Infovia connected Boa Vista (RR) to Vila de Moura, district of Barcelos (AM), passing through other municipalities that are difficult to access, such as Santa Maria do Boiaçu, district of Rorainópolis (RR), and Caracaraí (RR). The connection between Caracaraí and Boa Vista, 132 km long, is being made by land.

In total, 28 infovias will be made available in the country. The objective of the initiative is to increase data traffic capacity and broadband availability in municipalities that are difficult to access.

Also known as “digital roads”, the infovias have a total investment of R$1.9 billion by the New PAC (Growth Acceleration Program).