Spanish firm IslaLink Submarine, together with the Brazilian company Telebras, will put in place and manage a submarine cable to enable direct communication between Brazil and Europe.

The new undersea cable is strategic because it will enable direct communication between Brazil and Europe, without the need to connect through the United States. Today, for every 600 communications between these two regions, only one enjoys direct data traffic. All of the others pass through the US.

To this end Brazil’s state-owned Telebras has created a joint venture company called JVCo, in which Spain’s IslaLink will own 45%. The remaining 55% will be split between investment funds (20%) and Telebras (35%). The project is expected to get underway in the first half of this year and has a budget of $185 million.

Telebras also announced it has reached an agreement with the companies Silica Argentina and Silica Chile to create an alliance that will build, operate and maintain a fiber optic network to connect the Brazilian city of Uruguaiana (Río Grande do Sul) with the Argentine city of Paso de Los Libres (Corrientes).

This network will have a direct connection with Chile and, as a result, with the networks of South America’s Pacific coast.