FCT and EMACOM protocol for the use of submarine fiber optics

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and EMACOM – Telecomunicações da Madeira, owned by Empresa de Eletricidade da Madeira, signed a cooperation agreement on Monday (May 23) aimed at promoting the use of fiber optics for research purposes, particularly in the areas of seismology, volcanology, marine ecology, and ocean conditions.

The agreement is the first step towards the creation of GEOLab, an initiative aimed at the research community, which also involves the participation of the Ellalink Group, which owns the submarine system connecting Europe to Latin America and has a dedicated fiber optic pair between Funchal and Sines, and GEANT, the main European network for research and education.

Through this protocol, EMACOM undertakes to grant the rights to use fiber optics for all equipment supporting the scientific experiments to be carried out within the scope of the project and its connection to RCTS – Science, Technology, and Society Network, whose management and operation will be the responsibility of FCT, through its National Scientific Computing Unit (FCCN).

The FCT also adds to this responsibility the commitment to ensure access to GEOLab by the research and teaching community, in a partnership that aims to harness human and technological potential through the sharing of technological resources in the areas of research and connectivity, namely through the use of a submarine cable system.

Under the protocol, FCT will be responsible for taking steps to activate a new Point of Presence (PoP) at the CLS (Cable Landing Station) in Funchal and to reinforce the PoP in Penteada, located at the University of Madeira, in order to ensure global internet connectivity through GEOLab's Science, Technology, and Society Network (RCTS).

EMACOM – Telecomunicações da Madeira owns a fiber optic pair between Madeira and mainland Portugal, in the EllaLink system, which consists of a low-latency submarine cable 6,000 km long, connecting Brazil to Europe, with points of presence in Portugal (Sines and Lisbon), Spain, and France. EMACOM also has a fiber optic cable in the Ellalink system, approximately 56 km long, which starts at the landing station in Madeira and is a resource of great interest to the research and teaching community in activities related to earth observation, particularly the movements of the seabed.