Artur Lima praises expansion of fibre optic network in São Jorge - Communication

Vice-Presidência do Governo Regional

The Vice-President of the Regional Government, Artur Lima, praised today the expansion of the fibre optic network in São Jorge "to reach Topo," a "legitimate aspiration of São Jorge islanders that had long been demanded by the Island Council over the years," and has now been met.

"Three and a half years. This is how long it took this Government to solve a situation that had been going on for at least two decades. It posed a serious imbalance in terms of digital connectivity on the island of São Jorge. This is another example of how we solve major problems swiftly and effectively. We are turning our words into deeds," he said.

The Vice-President of the Government spoke at Calheta Town Hall, during an event organised by Altice and attended by Luís Cabral (Director of Altice in the Azores) and João Moura (Technical Director of Altice in the Azores).

For Artur Lima, this was a "fair demand" that has now been "met and fulfilled."

"This investment is fundamental in mitigating the effects of remoteness and e-exclusion. It also intends to improve access to public services and the island's competitiveness as a whole, ensuring greater internal cohesion and cohesion with the archipelago and the world," added the Vice-President of the Government.

With this "digital motorway," the digital accessibility of people and companies is improved, "the only one, when compared to land, sea and air accessibility," that can place citizens and companies "anywhere on the globe at the speed of light."

"This digital motorway also has an impact on improving the performance of mobile networks, as the stations supporting them now have greater capacity, reflected in greater speed and available bandwidth. This is also an information transport infrastructure that benefits all telecoms operators," he said.

As Artur Lima pointed out, "the concerns and efforts of the Regional Government do not end here in terms of digital connectivity within the islands and between them, and between each island and the rest of the world."

Accordingly, proposals are expected to be submitted at this stage as part of the public tender for the coverage of the "White Areas," an investment financed by the ERDF through the Azores 2030 Operational Programme, with a base value of €949,500.00.

"With this investment, we will guarantee access to fibre optics for every home in the Azores. It is not enough to have fibre optic transport networks, like the one that brought us here today. These are fundamental for the development of local access networks, which will provide a data capacity of at least 1Gbps (gigabit per second) in every Azorean home," he stressed.

In addition, Artur Lima points out that the Government continues to monitor the installation process of the new Atlantic CAM Ring. It will replace the current CAM Ring, which connects submarine fibre optic cables between Mainland Portugal, the Azores and Madeira.

He explained: "We are not going to accept any more delays in this process, which should have started in 2020 but only began in March this year. We have already contacted the new Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, expressing our concern and the urgency of setting up a working group, which has been planned since 2019 and has not yet been set up, to issue a series of technical recommendations on the replacement of the inter-island submarine cable ring, which is at the end of its useful life and whose replacement is the responsibility of the National Government. The Azores have many questions to ask in the context of this working group to avoid the mistakes made in the past and ensure that the benefits of the new Atlantic CAM ring reach all our islands."

For Artur Lima, the Region should be an "Atlantic platform for connectivity and the exchange of international data," attracting investment in the telecommunications industry, the submarine cable industry, datacentres and the digital economy.

"We are marking here, on the island of São Jorge, an important turning point in the future of this island and, as such, of our archipelago as a whole. May it be just the beginning of a successful journey," said the Vice-President of the Regional Government.