Washington, US, July 4, 2024 (Lusa) - Google has applied to the US regulator for a licence to build a 6,900-kilometre submarine fibre-optic cable, which will be anchored in the Azores and Sines, claiming it will be the first direct link between the United States and Portugal.

According to the document, which the Lusa news agency had access on Thursday, the multinational is asking the Federal Communications Commission for "a licence to build, anchor and operate a private. non-common fibre-optic submarine cable system linking the United States to Bermuda, the Azores and mainland Portugal".

Google "intends to install and test the cloud system in US waters from the third quarter of 2025 and begin commercial operation of the system's mooring point in the United States in the second half of 2026," reads the letter.

The transatlantic cable system is called "Nuvem", to evoke the Portuguese word, and will be around 6,900 kilometres long, linking the American city of Myrtle Beach (South Carolina), Bermuda, the island of São Miguel and Sines.

"Nuvem will be the first system to directly connect the United States to the Azores and mainland Portugal. It will also be the first transatlantic system to have a landing point in Bermuda," says the company.

With regard to the Internet speed benchmark, the company says that each pair of fibre optic cables will have a total projected capacity of approximately 24 tbps (terabit transport per second).

The system, which will consist of 16 pairs of cables, will have a total of 384 tbps.

Google's request, made on behalf of its subsidiary Starfish, is dated 21 June.

RPYP/ADB // ADB.

Lusa