The document discusses efforts to bridge the digital divide in the Amazon region of Brazil through improved telecommunications infrastructure. It provides historical context on the development of telegraph networks in Brazil in the 19th century. Currently, telecom infrastructure is limited in Amazonia, with few fiber optic cable routes. The Brazilian National Research and Education Network (RNP) has launched initiatives like the Amazonia Connected program to deploy subfluvial fiber optic cables along major Amazon rivers to provide broadband access. A pilot project laid 220km of cable between Coari and Tefé in 2016. These efforts aim to address the lack of connectivity in remote areas and better integrate the Amazon region into national and global telecom networks.

1. Bridging the Digital Divide in Tropical
South America
TNC16 Conference
Prague
15th June 2016
Eduardo Grizendi, Michael Stanton
Brazilian National Research and
Education Network – RNP

2. Contents
• Telecom in Brazil in the 19th Century
• The unique character of Amazonia
• Current development of international telecom connectivity
• RNP’s role in providing advanced Internet services in Brazil
• The current state of telecom in Amazonia
• The Amazonia Connected programme
• Related work

3. In the beginning of the telegraph age ...
Use of subaquatic communications cables has a
long and venerable history, in Brazil and the world,
dating back to the middle of the 19th Century:
• 1850: World’s first submarine cable between England
and France
• 1857: Brazil’s first subaquatic cable (15 km) across
Guanabara Bay, as part of a 50 km connection
between Rio de Janeiro and Petrópolis.
• 1865: the Brazilian government began to lay
submarine cables from Rio along the coast
southwards as far as Rio Grande do Sul.
• 1868: first successful transatlantic cable, between
Ireland and Canada.
• 1873: Rio de Janeiro was connected by submarine
cables to the all the major cities on the Atlantic coast.
• 1874: first transatlantic cable from Europe, linking the
Brazilian telegraph network internationally
1857: Brazil’s first subaquatic cable, Guanabara Bay

4. The Victorian Internet in 1901
The coverage and impact of
long-distance telegraph
connections, mostly
submarine, were at least as
significant as the Internet
of today.
See book by Tom Standage,
”The Victorian Internet: The
Remarkable Story of the
Telegraph and the
Nineteenth Century's On-
Line Pioneers”, 1998
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi
ki/The_Victorian_Internet
Source: https://i2.wp.com/atlantic-cable.com/Maps/1901EasternTelegraph.jpg

5. A terrestrial cable in Brazil by 1901
The map shows a cable in Brazilian
Amazonia from Belém to the interior.
In spite of geographical imprecision,
this almost certainly corresponds to
the cable from Belém to Manaus
deployed in 1895-6.
Note also multiple international
submarine cables from Brazil to
Europe, Africa and North America

6. 1896 subfluvial cable Belém-Manaus
• Between 1895 and 1896, Siemens Brothers of London deployed a
subfluvial telegraph cable (1600 km) along the River Amazon between
Belém and Manaus, linking rubber-boom city Manaus to the Victorian
Internet - a unique feat of engineering for its time
• Please read http://www.atlantic-cable.com/Cables/1895ParaManaos/
Manaus Santarém
Belém
Monte Alegre
GurupáÓbidos
Parintins
Itacoatiara
Breves

7. Amazonia is special
The Amazon is the world’s largest river
system:
• Longest river : 6,992 km
Ucayali – Apurimac in Peru
(2nd is the Nile: 6,853 km)
• Largest river basin: 7.05 M km2
parts of Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela,
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
(2nd is the Congo: 3.68 M km2)
• Largest discharge: 219 M m3/s
(2nd is the Congo: 41.8 M m3/s )
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_length]
Other characteristics of Amazonia
• Major lowland areas: dense equatorial
rain forest, with enormous biodiversity
• Almost no major roads
• Very low population density
• Rivers are vital for food supply (fish) and
transport, with both local and
international (incl. oceanic) shipping
Amazon vs Mississippi
at their deepest points:
Obidos, AM
(2 km W, 60 m D)
Vicksburg, MS
(1 km W, 38 m D)

8. Telecom in the Internet age
• The Internet began in the 1980s,
and developed initially as a user
of telephony infrastructure.
• At the same time, telecom
infrastructure began migrating
to the use of FO (Fibre Optic)
cables.
• The rapid growth of the Internet
has strongly influenced telecom
infrastructure
Development of international
submarine FO infrastructure in
Brazil≤:
• Pre-Internet cables
(≤ 2000)
• 1st generation Internet (10G)
(2000)
• New generation Internet (≥ 100G)
(≥ 2014)

9. Current and proposed (by 2018) submarine
cables to Brazil
• Pre-Internet cables (2000)
• Americas 2 (US)
• Atlantis 2 (EU)
• 1st generation Internet (10G) (2000)
• GlobeNet, SAC/LAN, SAm-1 (US)
• New generation Internet (100G) (≥ 2014)
• AMX-1, BRUSA, Monet, Seabras-1 (US)
• EllaLink (EU)
• CBCS, SACS (Africa)
• Tannat (Uruguay)
11 international cables from 4 continents
to land in Fortaleza, forming the
“South Atlantic Crossroads”
– a massive contribution to global
connectedness
Source: http://www.submarinecablemap.com/#/country/brazil

10. Future 100G cables to Brazil
• New undersea
cables to Brazil by
2018 from:
• USA (3)
• BRUSA
• Monet
• Seabras-1
• Europe (1)
• EllaLink
• Africa 2)
• CBCS
• SACS
• S. America (1)
• Tannat
Of the intercontinental cables, only Seabras-1 and some of the fibre
pairs in Monet, both from N. America, will not land in Fortaleza

11. Brazilian telecom infrastructure today
Major national telcos
• Vivo (Telefonica)
• Claro/Embratel (Americas Movil)
• TIM (Telecom Italia)
• Oi
• Telebras
+
• Regionals
• International companies
• Most of the major players have
similar national footprints,
serving the more populous parts
of the country
• Nearly all have limited coverage
in Amazonia
• In much of Amazonia, the only
solution is though expensive
satellite communications

12. RNP (www.rnp.br/en)
operates the national research and education network in Brazil,
• consisting of a national backbone network,
• International circuits connecting LA, EUA, Europe and other regions,
• 40 dark fiber-based own metropolitan networks in major cities,
• and other access links,
• providing high-capacity access to more than 1,200 sites,
• serving all the best research groups in the country,
• as well as large national laboratories and data centers in HPC,
Synchrotron Light, Biodiversity, Agricultural Sciences and e-Health

13. RNP’s networks - note the lower density of
coverage in Northwest Brazil (Western Amazonia)
National backbone 40 dark-fibre own metropolitan networks

14. Regional imbalances
• The RNP networks reflect the
regional population differences
• The Northwest of the country
(Amazonia) is much less well-
served by RNP networks, as also
by general telecom
infrastructure
Map of population density in Brasil, according to the
Census in 2000 (Source: IBGE)

15. Few existing FO routes in Amazonia, and
almost none in western Amazonia
OPGW:
• Belém – Tucuruí –
Marabá – Santarém –
Itaituba
• Tucuruí – Macapá –
Manaus
• Porto Velho – Rio Branco
• Boa Vista – Venezuela
Highway:
• Manaus – Boa Vista
• Porto Velho – Manaus
• Macapá – French Guiana
Gas pipeline:
• Manaus – Coari – Urucu
Starting around 2010, there are still only 3 FO cable
crossings of the Amazon/Solimões:
1. Manaus (subfluvial) 2. Jurupari (aerial) 3. Coari (duct)
to national FO
infrastructure
to national FO
infrastructure
Tucuruí
Belém
Macapá
Manaus
Boa Vista
Rio Branco
Porto Velho
Coari
Urucu
Itaituba
Santarém
Jurupari

16. Aerial Amazon Crossing at Jurupari (Pará): 2100m span
between 300m towers in 2012
Power line from Tucuruí
hydroelectric scheme with
OPGW
2nd fibre across the
Amazon
Brought competition to the
1st terrestrial link to
Manaus from Porto Velho
RNP obtained Gbps access
to Manaus and Macapá in
2015
300m
Towers
Shipping Lane

17. The first Amazon Rivers (AR) proposal, 2013
A project to deploy subfluvial optical cable
in the Amazon region
• Complete project: 7,784 km
• 6 routes: A: Amazon, B: Negro,
C: Branco, D: Solimões, E: Madeira,
F : (Atlantic coast) Macapá – French Guiana
• Estimated cost: US$ 500 million
First stage
– Route “A”: 2,100 km; estimated cost: US$ 200 M.
– Interconnects state capitals: Belém, Macapá and Manaus,
– Almost exactly the same route as the Siemens Brothers
cable of 1895-96
Grizendi, E.; Stanton, M.A. “Use of subfluvial optical cable in a
region without land-based infrastructure - a project to deploy optical
cable in the Amazon region”. UbuntuNet-Connect 2013, Kigale,
Rwanda.
http://www.ubuntunet.net/sites/ubuntunet.net/files/grizend.pdf
Manaus
Itacoatiara
Parintins
Óbidos
Santarém
Monte Alegre
Breves
Macapá
Belém
Marzagão

18. Population that can be served by AR project
• Population and the numbers of university and research institution
campi (RNP clients) that can be served by this project
State Pará Amazonas Amapá Rondônia Roraima TOTAL
Total population near to
routes
3,198,418 2,997,309 633,919 443,058 342,344 7,615,048
Total population along
the routes
2,947,076 2,872,946 562,219 443,058 342,344 7,167,643
% population served on
routes
92% 96% 89% 100% 100% 94%
Cities 22 33 7 1 5 68
Total number of cities
along the routes
13 26 5 1 5 50
% cities along the routes 59% 79% 71% 100% 100% 74%
Total number of RNP
clients along routes
13 12 3 0 1 29

19. Amazonia Connected (AC) programme – 2015
[http://www.amazoniaconectada.eb.mil.br/eng/]
• Initiative of the Brazilian Army to
provide broadband access in
Amazonia for general use
• Programme to deploy subfluvial FO
cables along major navigable rivers
• Create data highways (infovias) to
provide high quality data services to
riverside communities
• Solution less harmful to environment
than usual alternatives (highways,
OPGW).
Partners:
• Brazilian Army
• Amazonas state government
• Amazonas state university
• Amazonas state IT company
• Pará state IT company
• Eletrobras (energy utility)
• Telebras (telco)
• RNP

20. Amazonia Connected: proof of concept (PoC)
• 6,800 m of
subfluvial cable
deployed in Rio
Negro in Manaus
• Fibre used as
extension of
RNP’s MetroMAO
metro network
• In use since April,
2015
FO footprint of MetroMAO metro network
FO footprint of AC PoC for subfluvial cable

21. Amazonia Connected: 5 planned data highways
Proposed rivers
(8,000 km):
• Solimões
• Rio Negro
• Madeira
• Purus
• Juruá
Phase 1:
• Solimões:
Manaus – Tabatinga
1,600 km
• By 2017
to national FO
infrastructure
to national FO
infrastructure
Manaus
Porto Velho
Coari
Tefé
Tabatinga

22. Pilot project: Coari – Tefé (Upper Solimões)
• 220 km, Mar-Apr, 2016
• Cable from Nexans
(Norway)
• Laid by Aquamar (Brazil)
• Optics from Padtec
(Brazil)
• Connects to existing FO
to Manaus
• RNP clients in Tefé
include the Mamirauá
Institute for Sustainable
Development, currently
linked by satellite
http://www.mamiraua.org.br/
Coari
Tefé

23. Cable-laying between Coari and Tefé, March/2016

24. Inauguration of subfluvial link Manaus-Tefé
on 7th June 2016
Screenshot of
Videoconferencing
image in Manaus,
involving a local judge
in Tefé, conversing with
the meeting of the
Amazonia Connected
programme in Manaus.
Prior to this, all
communication was
conducted via satellite,
without support for
this quality of video.

25. A similar proposal: La Supercobra
(Línea Amazónica Subacuática Perú Colombia Brasil)
Jorge O Garcia Lozano
(Colombia) presented at
SubOptic 2013 a proposal for
a subfluvial cable between
Iquitos (Peru) and near to
Manaus, to provide external
terrestrial connectivity to
Peruvian and Colombian
Amazonia.
http://www.suboptic.org/wp-
content/uploads/2014/10/TU
1A-4_Oral_173.pdf

26. Another proposal:
extend the AC infrastructure westward into Peru
4 components:
• Tabatinga – Iquitos
(subfluvial) 420 km
• Iquitos – Nauta
(highway) 98 km
• Nauta – Yurimaguas
(subfluvial) 448 km
• Yurimaguas – Paita
(highway – IIRSA†
Norte) 955 km
Yurimaguas
Nauta
Iquitos
Leticia-Tabatinga
Amazonas
†IIRSA = Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iniciativa_para_a_Integração_da_Infraestrutura_Regional_Sul-Americana

27. Conclusions
• This first experience of the use of long-distance subfluvial
cables may serve as example for more extensive projects in
South America and in other similar regions.
• New international cable links in the South Atlantic will make
a useful contribution to providing new routes which will
increase the diversity and redundancy of global connectivity
Questions? Comments?

28. Eduardo Grizendi, Director of Networks, RNP
eduardo.grizendi@rnp.br
Michael Stanton, Director of R&D, RNP
michael@rnp.br