Liberty Networks, a connectivity and digital infrastructure provider in Latin America and the Caribbean, together with the Compañía Anónima Nacional Teléfonos de Venezuela (CANTV), a state-run telecommunications provider in Venezuela, has announced the launch of Fénix, a subsea cable system with a capacity of up to 14 Tbps and support for 100G and 400G interfaces.
The subsea cable will extend 378 km and will have two landing points. One is to be located some 50 km from Caracas in Camuri, Venezuela, and the other in Willemstad, Curaçao. The cable is connected to CANTV’s Festoon cable and will improve connectivity and reduce latency in Venezuela as outlined in a press release.
“This integration allows Liberty Networks and CANTV to offer robust and diversified connectivity, reaffirming their long-term commitment to the Venezuelan market and their role as facilitators of regional connectivity. This project is a fundamental step to strengthen international connectivity that comes at a critical time for Venezuela and allows us to offer greater capacity and access to a key region for the country’s continued digital development,” said Ray Collins, Senior Vice President of Infrastructure and Corporate Strategy at Liberty Latin America and CEO of Liberty Networks.
The cable will connect directly to Liberty Networks’ IP hub in Curaçao, which also connects to the firm’s other subsea cable systems including Arcos, EC-Link, Jerry Newton, and PCCS. This improves availability and resilience of the connectivity between Latin America and the Caribbean while also dropping latency in Curaçao to as low as 4ms. Onward IP transit is said to run from Curaçao to the Network Access Point (NAP) of the Americas in Miami, Florida.
“This initiative represents a significant advance in the country’s telecommunications infrastructure, providing a new interconnection point for the capital of Venezuela, which concentrates more than 40% of the volume of international traffic. With Fénix, we are generating a significant capacity for the current needs of Venezuela,” said Colmenares M., CANTV Vice President of Technology and Infrastructure.
Earlier this week Liberty Networks completed an upgrade of the 26-year-old MAYA-1 subsea cable, forming the new MAYA-1.2 network. The upgrade saw engineers reconfiguring and simplifying the old network which now links Grand Cayman, Honduras, and Florida, according to a report from Cayman Compass. The upgrade saw connectivity improved from between 10 and 40 gigabit to up to 400 gigabit and will reportedly service the Cayman Islands’ expected traffic for the next 10 years.