wiredInUSA May 2017

Linking Brazil with Argentina M A K I N G T H E NEWS

SeabornNetworks andGrupoWerthein have announced their agreement to build the ARBR subsea fiber optic cable system between Argentina and Brazil. The ARBR system will provide onward connectivity via Seabras-1 and will be developed and owned by Seabras Group and Werthein. Seabras is the sole owner of the entire Seabras-1 submarine cable. Seaborn is the operator of both Seabras-1 and the ARBR system; a total project size of over $575 million. Larry Schwartz, chairman and CEO of both Seaborn Networks and Seabras Group, said: “This project responds to the Argentine market need for substantially more international capacity on a next generation system while also offering the country’s first independent operator model for a critical submarine cable route.”

Argentina’s communications minister, OscarAguad,commented:“Argentina needs a global modernization of communications infrastructure and this first independent submarine cable system is a very important step.” “Given that it has been sixteen years since the last submarinecablewas built fromArgentina to Brazil, combinedwith the fact that this is the primary route for data and voice communications between Argentina and the rest of the world, this new and independent route is overdue,” said Dario Werthein of Grupo Werthein. The ARBR system will be a four-fiber pair system with an initial maximum design capacity of 48Tb per second, and an anticipated completion date in the second half of 2018.

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wiredInUSA - May 2017