This is the map of the submarine cables that reach the country

The internet has been able to occupy a privileged place in our daily lives, to such an extent that it is increasingly relevant to work, study, make transactions and even to communicate, but it has been asked how telecommunications operators manage to connect to the network and bring internet to each of the homes.

(Read: Artificial intelligence, at the service of health).

Although they are not visible, submarine cables have been key in this process and in the flow of information since the 19th century. It is estimated that 90% of Internet traffic circulates through these, functioning as huge highways that carry and bring volumes of data.

According to information from TeleGeography, at the beginning of this year there were 552 submarine fiber optic cables registered, between active and projected, worldwide, and almost 1.4 million kilometers of cables.

And although this network began with a submarine telegraph cable in 1850, according to the records of the sector, the progress that has been made in recent decades has been enormous thanks to fiber optics.

However, at the local level, the x-ray shows us, according to the interactive graph of TeleGeography (Submarine Cable Map), that Colombia has 8 landing points (landing point) located in Buenaventura, Tolú, Cartagena, Puerto Colombia, Barranquilla, Parque Isla Salamanca, Santa Marta and Riohacha. In total there would be 10 cables that enter the country (with 16 different entry points) and two cables that would be projected for 2025.

(Also: Did Burger King Colombia ‘hire’ an AI to manage its networks?).

On the side of the operators of these cables are: América Móvil (Claro) which has two submarine cables, one that enters through Barranquilla and another that enters through Cartagena.

Secondly, the company C&W Networks has had the Arcos network since 2001, which has two entry points to Colombia: Cartagena and Riohacha. In third position is the company that owns the ‘Colombia-Florida Subsea Fiber’ (CFX1) cable with a landing point in Cartagena.

Since 1997, the country has had the ‘Colombia Festoon’ cable, which reaches Cartagena, Parque Isla, Puerto Colombia and Tolú. In total, this cable has a total of 400 kilometers.
In fifth place is the Globe Net company, which has a landing point in Barranquilla, while the Maya 1 conglomerate has a cable that reaches Tolú.

In sixth position is the cable ‘Pacific Caribbean Cable System’ (PCCS), from C&W Networks, Setar, Telconet, Telxius, United Telecommunication Services (UTS) that reaches Cartagena. Another of the submarine cables that appear in this panorama is the network that connects San Andrés with Tolú. This cable called ‘Sait’ is 826 kilometers long.
The Telxius company owns the ‘South America-1’ (SAm-1) cable, which has an entrance to the country through Barranquilla.

For its part, the company Cirion Technologies has the submarine cable ‘South American Crossing’ (SAC) which reaches the Colombian Pacific, more precisely to the point of Buenaventura.

Among the programmed projects, the csubmarine cable ‘Caribbean Express’ (CX) and cable ‘Carnival Submarine Network-‘1 (CSN-1) that will have an entry point in Barranquilla.

(Read: The new virtual eSIM that allows you to have several lines on a cell phone).

For Alejandro Arroyave, business manager at Cirion, it is estimated that between 2022 and 2024 will invest at least US$10 billion in the submarine cable sector in the worlddriven mainly by the growing demand from cloud service providers and large companies that provide streaming content.

“You are probably wondering if they are shark proof and other dangers of the deep sea. Yes, they are very resistant. Between 2007 and 2014, for example, no failures were recorded due to these animals, however, fishing and anchoring are the main causes of defects in this equipment, in addition to earthquakes.”, commented Arroyave.

Likewise, the expert highlighted that when the cables reach the different points, which regenerate the optical signal, it is separated into channels and then distributed to final consumers.

(In addition: This was the first judicial hearing in the metaverse in Colombia).

With an investment of 15 million dollars and an extension of 727 kilometers, Claro Colombia announced at the end of 2021 the fiber optic connection on the island of San Andrés, through its AMX-1 submarine cable.

According to Nestor Bergero, Claro Colombia’s Technology Director, this investment that the company has been making seeks to strengthen connectivity, not only in the country, but also throughout the region.

“This is one of the company’s big bets in order to connect more territories. The cables go on the sea bed with a capacity that is increasing. These cables are well protected and have electrical lighting and repeaters in order to give them continuity. One of our cables has a mooring point in Costa Rica and has a branch in San Andrés, which is one of the last works to be added. It is noteworthy that at Claro we have been using the cable network for several yearsBergero said.

JOHANA LORDUY
Portfolio Journalist