BELLA: EllaLink cable gets go-ahead
GÉANT and RedCLARA, on behalf of the BELLA (Building the Europe Link to Latin America) Consortium, are announced the signature of the contract for the construction of the EllaLink submarine fibre optic cable system that will provide direct connectivity between Europe and Latin America.
Through the agreement with EllaLink, BELLA will receive spectrum on the new submarine cable, to support research and education networking between the two continents, for the lifetime of the system. The Italian Research and Education Network, GARR, played a key role in developing the initial project for this new low-latency link (which will bridge more than 5.500 km of ocean as the bird flies) and is deeply involved in its implementation as the European co-chair of the BELLA consortium and of BELLA-T project, co-funded by the EC, which supports the link's construction. Construction of the EllaLink fibre optic cable system will begin in early 2019 with a survey of the ocean floor to determine the cable route, followed by the manufacture of the cable system. Meanwhile, the landing stations in Sines, Portugal, and Fortaleza, Brazil, will be made ready for the completion of the marine installation. EllaLink will be ready to transfer the first data packets by the end of 2020.
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