FEATURE THE OLISIPO SUBMARINE CABLE SYSTEM

Enhancing Connectivity and Unlocking the Hub Potential of Sines

BY DIEGO MATAS

In today’s interconnected world, reliable and efficient communication infrastructure is vital for economic growth and social development. The Olisipo submarine cable system, developed by EllaLink, is set to support the digital development of Portugal, particularly in the region of Sines enabling its transformation in to one of the hottest places in Europe for data centre construction and connectivity hub.

With Diego Matas, EllaLink COO, we will be guided in understanding how and why submarine cable systems play an important role in sustaining the connectivity ecosystem, while highlighting the myriad benefits it brings. In 2021, the EllaLink optic fibre submarine cable has made the task easier, by establishing a direct link between Europe and Latin America, and enabling faster and more reliable communication, fostering economic growth, and strengthening cultural ties between these regions.

Today Sines is already much more than subsea cables! The city is witnessing the development of an impressive hyperscale Data Centre campus of up to 495MW, a project with an ultimate investment size of up to €3.5 billion –

Start Campus is a name to remember and the first building of the campus with a total capacity of 15 MW, is set to open in September.

Seawater cooling system, use of existing industrial infrastructure to minimize environmental impact, strong capillarity in Portugal and connection with international high-capacity fibre optic cables, availability of 100% green electricity – the Start Campus project will take advantage of the strategic geographic location of Sines and Portugal on the European periphery with a the EllaLink submarine cable already in operation and other more cables already announced

With the complement of the Olisipo cable system, the connectivity infrastructure will play a crucial role in sustaining Portugal’s connectivity ecosystem, bridging Sines with the Lisbon Metro Area.

Data Centre And Subsea Cable Symbiosis

Data centres and submarine cables have a symbiotic relationship that is crucial for the functioning of the modern internet. This interdependency ensures seamless global con- nectivity, efficient data transmission, and reliable network infrastructure.

Data centres and cloud providers heavily rely on submarine cables to facilitate the transfer of data between several locations. Cables provide the necessary long-haul infrastructure for data centers to store, process, and distribute massive amounts of data generated by users. Depending on the type of site (content site or computing site) there is symbiotic relationship between Data centres and submarine cables that together creates the cornerstone of the digital ecosystem.

The symbiotic relationship between data centres and submarine cables also enhances the overall reliability of the global internet infrastructure. Redundant connections allow data centres to reroute traffic in the event of disruptions or cable damage, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity and data accessibility. Submarine cables offer diverse and redundant paths for data transmission, ensuring continuous operation and minimizing downtime for data centres. For instance, cloud providers count at least on 3 to 5 diverse routes to secure a POP location.

THE OLISIPO: SINES TO LISBON

The Olisipo submarine cable system planned to be RFS in Q12025, is an ambitious project that aims to pro - vide enhanced connectivity between the new datacentre development area of Sines and the Lisbon metro area. It will allow not only to bear the massive data generated by the data centres towards the Lisbon metro area and the interconnection with other cables, but as well to provide a new secure and robust route in complement to existing and future terrestrial long-haul infrastructure. This new submarine cable connection will bring numerous benefits to the connectivity ecosystem as we go through the key technical features:

The Olisipo cable system will provide direct DC to DC Dark Fibre Connectivity, allowing for efficient and secure communication between the DCs, eliminating the need for additional routing and offering enhanced reliability and low latency.

With 96 unrepeated fibre pairs and an optimized optical design, the Olisipo cable system will offer ultra-high-capacity transmission capabilities, with an ultra-high capacity and optimized optical design.

• The Olisipo cable system will utilize armoured cable and will be a buried subsea and land cable configuration. This design ensures DC entry point diversity and provides protection through Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) in Sines, the landing point.

• The robust and diverse route design enhances the overall