Brazil's aim to provide broadband connectivity to around one million people in two northern states has been officially launched.
770 kilometres of Infovia 00 fibre optic cable are being installed in Amapa and Para. It will run along the bed of the Amazon River to reduce the environmental impact of the project. It will also improve connectivity for local people and fishermen living near the river.
The urban network will distribute fibre optic signals from each city to organisations, research institutes, hospitals, health centres and courts.
According to TeleGeography's CommsUpdate, the plan is part of the Norte Conectado programme supported by the Ministry of Communications, which is itself part of Amazonia Integrada Sustentavel (Sustainable Integrated Amazonia Plan) or PAIS.
The cable, supplied by Italian energy and telecoms cable company Prysmian, is manufactured in Germany and has 24 pairs of fibres and a transmission capacity of 100Gbps. Brazilian company Navegação Prates has been contracted to lay the fibre.
This is just one part of a larger and very ambitious undertaking, the PAIS plan will involve eight connectivity projects - just 12,000 kilometres long, crossing seven rivers, connecting 58 cities in the north of the country and benefiting around 10 million Brazilians.
The Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa (RNP), the national education and research network responsible for managing PAIS, will share access and infrastructure with a number of operators and internet providers who will be part of an open consortium of neutral operators.
Not all of them either. There is also a Nordeste Conectado programme, which focuses on the north-eastern states. Together, the government expects the North and North-East plans to bring better connectivity to around 24 million people.
