Google has successfully switched on a new transatlantic subsea cable linking Portugal’s port of Sines to the United States, marking an important step in the evolution of global digital infrastructure. The Nuvem cable system is so named because it is a Portuguese term for “cloud,” and it serves as an important data communication path between Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Sines, right south of Lisbon, as well as Bermuda and the Azores. The move is designed to take part in a trend of unprecedented demand for higher capacity data transmission corridors between continents, powered by cloud computing services and artificial intelligence.
The Nuvem was a major engineering feat, crossing the Atlantic Ocean over some 7,000 kilometres or 4,350 miles. It includes sixteen fibre pairs, totaling approximately 384 terabits per second, and is among the most sophisticated subsea cable systems in use today. The capacity of this massive capacity will play a significant role in improving data transfer speeds between North America and Europe for use in everything from regular internet use to large-scale artificial intelligence applications that demand high-speed data transfer.
Subsea cables are the main infrastructure of the internet, making up over 95 percent of global data traffic, and largely invisible to the public. Although the satellite’s communication system and wireless technologies have proliferated, the physical communication cables that are laid on the ocean floors remain the most reliable and high-capacity way to transmit data internationally. The Nuvem system is a testament to Google’s understanding that the digital economy’s future hinges on strong and reliable physical network infrastructure capable of scaling to meet increasing demand.
It is no coincidence that Portugal has been chosen as the European destination for this new cable. Giorgia Abeltino, government affairs and public policy head at Google Cloud EMEA, said that Nuvem was part of a broader strategy on Portugal and Europe to invest in strategic infrastructure to support the digital economy. Her comments reflect the broader perspective of tech companies on subsea cable investments, emphasizing their role in contributing to the overarching goals of digital resilience and sovereignty. The cable system also offers an alternative route for data across the Atlantic, bringing redundancy and mitigating the threat of service disruptions that could impact companies, governments and individuals.
As the nation’s Atlantic coast has become an increasingly attractive and desired location for intercontinental subsea cables, Nuvem will further solidify this trend. Geography has always provided natural opportunities for this country to be a gateway between Europe, Africa and America, but recent investments in digital infrastructure will help turn these into real economic opportunities. The Nuvem cable joins a list of much larger subsea cables, such as the Google-backed Equiano cable which connects to South Africa through the rest of Africa, and the EllaLink connection from Sines to Brazil.
The State Reform and Innovation Minister Goncalo Matias delivered the speech in the celebration of the landing of the cable, highlighting the greater strategic value of the project. Portugal has become, as geography always wanted it to be, the gateway of Europe to the Atlantic, the crossroads of three continents, Europe, Africa and the Americas, Matias said. His comments illustrate the Portuguese government’s desire to take advantage of the country’s geographical position to boost digital economic development and promote investment in data centres, AI competence and innovation industries.
The Portuguese government has been active in developing this digital infrastructure strategy; it sees that the landings of sub-sea cables generate downstream economic benefits which extend beyond the construction and activation stages. A cable link arriving onshore opens the door to the development of data centres, the jobs of new technologies, and wider digital service industries that can act as anchors for the regional economic transition. The installation of the Nuvem cable in Sines is likely to boost these dynamics, making the area a more and more appealing choice for digital infrastructure investment.
Portugal’s approach to digital development is not limited to its geographical position, but it has also great benefits in terms of renewable energy production. The country has been building up significant Hydro, Solar and Wind Energy projects with over 2.6GW of projects in development. It is a rich source of low cost renewable energy, which is an attractive option for energy-hungry data centres that generate massive amounts of electricity for their operations, and cooling systems for servers. It is not surprising that companies are drawn to areas where sustainable energy is abundant and cost-effective, like those with clean energy.
The pipeline of renewable energy projects is headed by Start Campus in Sines, whose 1.2 gigawatts of solar power will be powered by investments in AI infrastructure by the tech giant Microsoft, and which looks set to expand significantly in coming years. This project is an example of the interdependence of digital and energy infrastructure strategies; clean energy inspires investment in the data centre, which drives demand for more clean energy capacity. The arrival of big tech firms such as Google and Microsoft in Portugal is a sign of success in the country’s strategy among the world’s most advanced digital infrastructure investors.
Google’s investment in the Nuvem cable is another sign that the tech giant is spending heavily on what is increasingly being called the “physical layer” of the internet. Cloud services and applications for AI all run in “virtual” space, but rely 100% on physical infrastructure of cables, data centres and switching. Companies who own these physical resources are able to enjoy strategic benefits in terms of network performance, reliability and cost management. Google has the power to optimize its network for its own traffic and services, and not just those of its clients, by virtue of owning some of its subsea cable systems.
The activation is important because, as the demand for cloud computing and AI services keeps on rising dramatically. Generative AI has introduced new classes of data-intensive applications; and traditional cloud services are growing in new markets and applications. The trends are placing enormous pressure on data networks globally, making it essential for operators to continually increase capacity and add new routes to them to avoid congestion and ensure acceptable data network performance.
