Some very positive connectivity news comes from the Brazil-Colombia border where it is being reported that a fibre optics cable crossing Brazil's Amazonas state is finally ready to connect the Colombian city of Leticia two years after the project to link the two countries via fibre in the shared Amazon border area kicked off.
The cable is one of a number comprising the Norte Conectado project, which aims to expand the communications infrastructure in the Amazon region of Brazil through an underwater fibre trunk network.
Infovia 02, as it is known, is a stretch of Norte Conectado that reaches Tabatinga, a municipality in the Três Fronteiras area of Western Amazonas on the border with Colombia's Amazonas department and about four kilometres from Leticia on the Colombian side.
The Colombian ICT ministry has said that the connection between Tabatinga and Leticia started operations on 1 July.
The news website BNamericas explains that the connection is a partnership between Brazil's state-run telecom company Telebras and Internexa, the telecoms arm of Colombia's power group Isa.
In Colombia the fibre is initially expected to connect around 8,600 low-income households in Leticia and 1,200 in Puerto Nariño, a municipality about 75 kilometres upriver from Leticia. Internexa will be responsible for extending connectivity.
The binational agreement also includes a commitment to enhance connectivity in the broader Amazon region.
As the BNamericas website points out, this is one of a number of underwater projects planned for Brazil, including Nokia and Global Fiber Peru’s planned deployment of an underwater optical network in rivers in the Amazon linking municipalities in Brazil, Peru and Colombia, and Global Fiber’s plans for a new submarine fibre route to be deployed off Brazil’s northern coast.
