Google announced plans to add three subsea cable systems—Alisios, Canoa and OlaLuz—and a new branch of its Firmina cable system to the Dominican Republic as part of an Americas Connect network expansion.
A press release said the initiative combines the proposed systems with Google’s existing Curie, Nuvem and Sol subsea cables to add route diversity across Latin America, the Caribbean, the U.S. and Europe. Google did not disclose project costs, cable-route lengths, capacity, suppliers, landing dates or expected completion dates.
Three new systems
Alisios will connect the Dominican Republic, Panama and Chile. Canoa will link the Dominican Republic and Bermuda; Google said the route, together with its Nuvem and Sol cable systems, is intended to provide a more reliable connection from Latin America and the Caribbean to North America and Europe. OlaLuz will directly connect the Dominican Republic and Florida, adding capacity and a separate route between the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast.
Firmina branch
Google also plans to establish a new Firmina branch landing in the Dominican Republic. Firmina was originally designed to connect North and South America, and the new branch will extend the system’s high-capacity connectivity into the Caribbean.
Based on the announced endpoints, the three planned systems could require roughly 10,000–12,000 km of submarine cable—mostly for the Dominican Republic–Panama–Chile Alisios route—although Google has disclosed neither route lengths nor construction details.
Network design and cloud links
The company said the new infrastructure will create geographically separated paths to its cloud regions. In the Pacific, a subsea ring will provide redundant paths between Chile and Panama, together with a link from Panama to the U.S. West Coast. Those routes were designed to connect Google Cloud regions in Chile, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
In the Caribbean, the Alisios connection from Panama to the Dominican Republic will interlink with a ring connecting the Dominican Republic to the U.S. East Coast and Google Cloud regions in South Carolina and Virginia. Canoa will connect with Nuvem and Sol in the Atlantic, while rings to the United States and Europe will provide links to Google Cloud regions in South Carolina, Virginia and Madrid.
