The Vice-President of the Government of the Azores, Artur Lima, said yesterday that the Minister for Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, had committed himself “to finding funding mechanisms for the implementation of the new inter-island ring, recognizing the importance of this infrastructure in the context of national cohesion. “
“This is a process that has now undergone important developments and which we hope can move forward soon, after the conclusion of the work of the group created for this purpose, which should happen on October 31st of this year,” stressed Artur Lima.
The vice president of the Azores government spoke after a meeting in Lisbon with the Minister for Infrastructure and Housing to discuss implementing the new submarine cable system that links the Azores to each other and the region to the rest of the country.
“This meeting was very important and served to raise the concerns and expectations of the Government of the Azores with regard to communications,” he said.
During the meeting, the Vice President of the Government asked for speed in implementing the new Atlantic CAM submarine cable system, which will connect the region to the mainland and Madeira.
Atlantic CAM should replace the connections between the Azores and the mainland, which are already at the end of their useful life, ensuring the Azores’ digital connectivity with the rest of the world.

“I suggested to the Minister that the implementation of the new CAM infrastructure should start with the Azores – mainland section, and I asked him to guarantee the Region access to the data from the SMART component of the system,” he said.
Artur Lima also congratulated Miguel Pinto Luz on setting up the Working Group for the inter-island submarine cable ring, which has been planned since 2019 but whose creation, despite the Region’s requests, has been successively postponed by previous Republic governments.
The Vice President of the Government considers it “unacceptable that several islands in the archipelago have only one telecommunications operator offering integrated voice, data, television, and internet services.”
“The Government of the Azores argues that the logic behind the granting of 5G frequencies and the associated coverage obligations should also be followed by cable television operators,” said Artur Lima
There are also plans to reduce wholesale prices for the new infrastructure by around 50% for 10 Gbps and 70% for 100 Gbps. The Regional Government of the Azores wants to ensure that this reduction doesn’t just stop at the retail level but also reaches Azorean citizens and companies.
Considering the current geopolitical situation, the redundancy and resilience of submarine connections were also mentioned as necessary.
The Government of the Azores suggested creating a set of satellite links supported by submarine cable systems that could guarantee minimum services in the event of digital connectivity’s unavailability.

in Correio dos Açores, Natalino Viveiros-director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.