Spanish telecoms firm Canalink has completed the first phase of deployment of the Base4 submarine cable, which has landed at Playa Honda on the island of Lanzarote.

The landing is a milestone in the construction of a new fiber ring that will connect the eastern islands of the Canary Islands.

The operation is part of the Atlántica project to strengthen the archipelago’s telecommunications infrastructure with new submarine routes.

The new system is part of the Gran Canaria-Fuerteventura-Lanzarote submarine ring project (since renamed Atlántica), funded by the European CEF Digital mechanism. The infrastructure includes two cables with separate routes to connect the three islands and create alternative paths for data traffic.

The system’s eastern cable will connect Ojos de Garza (Gran Canaria), Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura), and Playa Honda (Lanzarote), while the western route will link Barranco de Tenoya, Corralejo, and Playa Blanca.

The Ring/ Atlántica project has a total budget of nearly €34 million ($39.45m), €23 million ($26.69m) of which comes from European funding, and is scheduled for completion in September 2026.

Canalink is a Spanish telecoms firm founded in 2004 and based in Tenerife. It is a public company of the Tenerife Island Council through the Technological and Renewable Energy Institute.

Canalink is part of international consortia including the ACE cable and leases capacity on the WACS system, as well as multiple domestic cables and systems linking the islands to each other and the Spanish mainland.

The deployment of Base4 is complemented by other initiatives from Canalink to strengthen connectivity in the Canary Islands. Among these is a new branch of the Base4 system extending to the south of Fuerteventura, with a connection in Costa Calma, which adds another entry point to the backbone network and enhances its resilience. The project has received a public grant of more than €4.8 million ($5.57m).

This piece was automatically translated from DCD’s Spanish site and edited by a member of DCD staff.