Peru joins Europe-Latin America Bella fiber network exchange

Peru signed an MOU to join the fiber-based Europe-Latin America academic network known as Bella.

The agreement was signed by Peru’s transport and communications ministry and redCLARA, the Montevideo-based organization that brings together academic networks across Latin America and coordinates cooperation with the Bella project.

Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador are among other Latin American countries that signed up.

Bella (Building the Europe Link to Latin America and the Caribbean) is co-financed by the EU and uses the EllaLink submarine cable as its primary infrastructure for content, research, and data exchange between regions.

Opened in 2021, EllaLink is the first direct high-capacity submarine cable between Europe and Latin America, with data capacity of up to 100Tbps.

Its maritime section runs for 6,000km, connecting Brazil’s Fortaleza and Portugal’s Sines, with around 3,000km on land up to Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona and Marseille. It also has submarine branches to enable future connections to Africa.

In South America, the cable is currently being extended to connect Belém in Brazil and French Guiana’s capital Cayenne. The 2,100km extension was announced in January 2024 and is co-funded by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program.

The contract won by EllaLink was awarded by Splang, part of the governing body Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane (CTG) and the associated municipalities of French Guiana.