Spain's Alicante Port Approves Subsea Cable Landing Station
Valencia Digital Port Connect has been given the green light to construct the first subsea cable landing station (CLS) at the port of Alicante in Spain as part of the Barracuda cable project.
This project is to have a significant impact for data centres and data infrastructure across all regions involved.
The 2,500 sqm facility, with an initial construction budget of over €10mn (US$11mn), will have the capacity for up to four subsea cables and house a data center with 96 racks as well as a meet-me room.
The Barracuda project will form part of the Alicante-Valencia-Madrid leg of the Medusa cable, which is set to become the longest subsea cable in the Mediterranean Sea, connecting nine North African countries by 2024 and 2025.
The subsea cable landing station will include a technical ground floor and an upper floor for offices and will provide the Valencian Community with a hybrid network configuration comprising of 1,300km of terrestrial and 2,200km of submarine cables.
"The authorisation is a giant step in achieving the final objective. It allows us to be optimistic, despite the delays accumulated to date, with the execution deadlines to have the infrastructure in service for the first half of 2025," said Enrique Martin, Valencia Digital Port Connect CEO.
Pending administrative approvals, the company is anticipating that the project will create 200 jobs in the area during the first phase of construction.
The Medusa cable will span a distance of 8,700 km and comprise of 24 fibre pairs, offering 480 Tbps (20 Tbs per fibre pair).
Owner AFR-IX has estimated that the project will require a total investment of €326mn (US$374mn).
The system is also expected to land at an Orange CLS in Marseille, France, and AFR-IX's recently completed Barcelona Cable Landing Station, which also serves as the landing point for the Meta-led 2Africa cable.
The development of a subsea cable landing station at the port of Alicante in Spain will provide the Valencian Community with a much-needed boost to its digital infrastructure.
The Barracuda project will be instrumental in facilitating the Alicante-Valencia-Madrid leg of the Medusa cable, providing high-speed, low-latency connectivity to nine North African countries.
With a total investment of €326mn (US$374mn), the Medusa cable will be the longest subsea cable in the Mediterranean Sea, offering a capacity of 480 Tbps.
The construction of the subsea cable landing station in Alicante will create 200 jobs in the area during the first phase of construction, helping to boost the local economy.
