CANTV completes fibre-optic Venezuela-Brazil link

Venezuelan state-owned telco, Compania Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela (CANTV), announced on Friday that it has finished building a fibre-optic cable linking the southern part of the country to northern Brazil. Officials revealed the news at a press conference broadcast on state-run television, following the completion of the rollout of optical fibre across the border to the city of Manaus in Brazil, via small Venezuelan city Santa Elena de Uairen. The link will support transmission of broadband internet with a maximum capacity of 10Gbps. According to Venezuela’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Intermediate Industries, the country has around 10,700km of state-controlled fibre-optic infrastructure, and over the next two years the backbone is expected to reach 18,000km; the ministry added that the fibre network has been enlarged by 20% over the last two years.