EllaLink will provide a secure connection between French Guiana, home of the European Space Center, and continental Europe via a new high-capacity and low-latency route.
SPLANG, which is part of Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane (CTG) and the associated municipalities of French Guiana, has awarded EllaLink the contract to build an 8,000-kilometer submarine connection— the first high-capacity optical fiber submarine cable to connect Latin America and Europe. The contract covers the construction of a new 2,100-kilometer cable extension to the existing EllaLink cable.
This new submarine branch will emerge in Cayenne, French Guiana, with two fiber pairs. Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) will design and build the system, which will utilize cutting-edge optical technologies such as a ROADM WSS branching unit to provide direct connectivity without regeneration from French Guiana to continental Europe with an RTD latency of less than 80ms. The new infrastructure will also allow for direct connections from French Guiana to Fortaleza, Brazil.
French Guiana is one of the European Union's nine outermost regions, and it is strategically important because it houses the launch pads for Ariane space rockets. Due to its remote location from Continental Europe, the region faces constraints in establishing a direct and secure connection with the broader European network. In response to this challenge, the project secures funding from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program, showcasing its significance and alignment with the European Commission's priorities for a resilient and secure digital infrastructure under the Digital Gateway initiative.
