Bridging the Digital Divide in Tropical South America

Transcription

1 Bridging the Digital Divide in Tropical South America TNC16 Conference Prague 15 th June 2016 Eduardo Grizendi, Michael Stanton Brazilian National Research and Education Network RNP

2 Contents Telecom in Brazil in the 19th Century The unique character of Amazonia Current development of international telecom connectivity RNP s role in providing advanced Internet services in Brazil The current state of telecom in Amazonia The Amazonia Connected programme Related work

3 In the beginning of the telegraph age... Use of subaquatic communications cables has a long and venerable history, in Brazil and the world, dating back to the middle of the 19th Century: 1850: World s first submarine cable between England and France 1857: Brazil s first subaquatic cable (15 km) across Guanabara Bay, as part of a 50 km connection between Rio de Janeiro and Petrópolis. 1865: the Brazilian government began to lay submarine cables from Rio along the coast southwards as far as Rio Grande do Sul. 1868: first successful transatlantic cable, between Ireland and Canada. 1873: Rio de Janeiro was connected by submarine cables to the all the major cities on the Atlantic coast. 1874: first transatlantic cable from Europe, linking the Brazilian telegraph network internationally 1857: Brazil s first subaquatic cable, Guanabara Bay

4 Source: The Victorian Internet in 1901 The coverage and impact of long-distance telegraph connections, mostly submarine, were at least as significant as the Internet of today. See book by Tom Standage, The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On- Line Pioneers, ki/the_victorian_internet

5 A terrestrial cable in Brazil by 1901 The map shows a cable in Brazilian Amazonia from Belém to the interior. In spite of geographical imprecision, this almost certainly corresponds to the cable from Belém to Manaus deployed in Note also multiple international submarine cables from Brazil to Europe, Africa and North America

6 1896 subfluvial cable Belém-Manaus Between 1895 and 1896, Siemens Brothers of London deployed a subfluvial telegraph cable (1600 km) along the River Amazon between Belém and Manaus, linking rubber-boom city Manaus to the Victorian Internet - a unique feat of engineering for its time Please read Óbidos Gurupá Breves Belém Manaus Parintins Monte Alegre Santarém Itacoatiara

7 Amazonia is special The Amazon is the world s largest river system: Longest river : 6,992 km Ucayali Apurimac in Peru (2nd is the Nile: 6,853 km) Largest river basin: 7.05 M km 2 parts of Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia (2nd is the Congo: 3.68 M km 2 ) Largest discharge: 219 M m 3 /s (2nd is the Congo: 41.8 M m 3 /s ) [ Other characteristics of Amazonia Major lowland areas: dense equatorial rain forest, with enormous biodiversity Almost no major roads Very low population density Rivers are vital for food supply (fish) and transport, with both local and international (incl. oceanic) shipping Amazon vs Mississippi at their deepest points: Obidos, AM (2 km W, 60 m D) Vicksburg, MS (1 km W, 38 m D)

8 Telecom in the Internet age The Internet began in the 1980s, and developed initially as a user of telephony infrastructure. At the same time, telecom infrastructure began migrating to the use of FO (Fibre Optic) cables. The rapid growth of the Internet has strongly influenced telecom infrastructure Development of international submarine FO infrastructure in Brazil : Pre-Internet cables ( 2000) 1 st generation Internet (10G) (2000) New generation Internet ( 100G) ( 2014)

9 Current and proposed (by 2018) submarine cables to Brazil Pre-Internet cables (2000) Americas 2 (US) Atlantis 2 (EU) 1 st generation Internet (10G) (2000) GlobeNet, SAC/LAN, SAm-1 (US) New generation Internet (100G) ( 2014) AMX-1, BRUSA, Monet, Seabras-1 (US) EllaLink (EU) CBCS, SACS (Africa) Tannat (Uruguay) 11 international cables from 4 continents to land in Fortaleza, forming the South Atlantic Crossroads a massive contribution to global connectedness Source:

10 Future 100G cables to Brazil New undersea cables to Brazil by 2018 from: USA (3) BRUSA Monet Seabras-1 Europe (1) EllaLink Africa 2) CBCS SACS S. America (1) Tannat Of the intercontinental cables, only Seabras-1 and some of the fibre pairs in Monet, both from N. America, will not land in Fortaleza

11 Brazilian telecom infrastructure today Major national telcos Vivo (Telefonica) Claro/Embratel (Americas Movil) TIM (Telecom Italia) Oi Telebras + Regionals International companies Most of the major players have similar national footprints, serving the more populous parts of the country Nearly all have limited coverage in Amazonia In much of Amazonia, the only solution is though expensive satellite communications

12 RNP ( operates the national research and education network in Brazil, consisting of a national backbone network, International circuits connecting LA, EUA, Europe and other regions, 40 dark fiber-based own metropolitan networks in major cities, and other access links, providing high-capacity access to more than 1,200 sites, serving all the best research groups in the country, as well as large national laboratories and data centers in HPC, Synchrotron Light, Biodiversity, Agricultural Sciences and e-health

13 RNP s networks - note the lower density of coverage in Northwest Brazil (Western Amazonia) National backbone 40 dark-fibre own metropolitan networks

14 Regional imbalances The RNP networks reflect the regional population differences The Northwest of the country (Amazonia) is much less wellserved by RNP networks, as also by general telecom infrastructure Map of population density in Brasil, according to the Census in 2000 (Source: IBGE)

15 Few existing FO routes in Amazonia, and almost none in western Amazonia OPGW: Belém Tucuruí Marabá Santarém Itaituba Tucuruí Macapá Manaus Porto Velho Rio Branco Boa Vista Venezuela Highway: Manaus Boa Vista Porto Velho Manaus Macapá French Guiana Gas pipeline: Manaus Coari Urucu Rio Branco Coari Urucu Boa Vista Manaus Porto Velho Jurupari Santarém Itaituba to national FO infrastructure Macapá Belém Tucuruí to national FO infrastructure Starting around 2010, there are still only 3 FO cable crossings of the Amazon/Solimões: 1. Manaus (subfluvial) 2. Jurupari (aerial) 3. Coari (duct)

16 Aerial Amazon Crossing at Jurupari (Pará): 2100m span between 300m towers in m Towers Shipping Lane Power line from Tucuruí hydroelectric scheme with OPGW 2 nd fibre across the Amazon Brought competition to the 1 st terrestrial link to Manaus from Porto Velho RNP obtained Gbps access to Manaus and Macapá in 2015

17 The first Amazon Rivers (AR) proposal, 2013 A project to deploy subfluvial optical cable in the Amazon region Complete project: 7,784 km 6 routes: A: Amazon, B: Negro, C: Branco, D: Solimões, E: Madeira, F : (Atlantic coast) Macapá French Guiana Estimated cost: US$ 500 million First stage Route A : 2,100 km; estimated cost: US$ 200 M. Interconnects state capitals: Belém, Macapá and Manaus, Almost exactly the same route as the Siemens Brothers cable of Grizendi, E.; Stanton, M.A. Use of subfluvial optical cable in a region without land-based infrastructure - a project to deploy optical cable in the Amazon region. UbuntuNet-Connect 2013, Kigale, Rwanda. Manaus Itacoatiara Parintins Óbidos Macapá Marzagão Monte Alegre Santarém Breves Belém

18 Population that can be served by AR project Population and the numbers of university and research institution campi (RNP clients) that can be served by this project State Pará Amazonas Amapá Rondônia Roraima TOTAL Total population near to routes Total population along the routes % population served on routes 3,198,418 2,997, , , ,344 7,615,048 2,947,076 2,872, , , ,344 7,167,643 92% 96% 89% 100% 100% 94% Cities Total number of cities along the routes % cities along the routes 59% 79% 71% 100% 100% 74% Total number of RNP clients along routes

19 Amazonia Connected (AC) programme 2015 [ Initiative of the Brazilian Army to provide broadband access in Amazonia for general use Programme to deploy subfluvial FO cables along major navigable rivers Create data highways (infovias) to provide high quality data services to riverside communities Solution less harmful to environment than usual alternatives (highways, OPGW). Partners: Brazilian Army Amazonas state government Amazonas state university Amazonas state IT company Pará state IT company Eletrobras (energy utility) Telebras (telco) RNP

20 Amazonia Connected: proof of concept (PoC) 6,800 m of subfluvial cable deployed in Rio Negro in Manaus Fibre used as extension of RNP s MetroMAO metro network In use since April, 2015 FO footprint of MetroMAO metro network FO footprint of AC PoC for subfluvial cable

21 Amazonia Connected: 5 planned data highways Proposed rivers (8,000 km): Solimões Rio Negro Madeira Purus Juruá Tabatinga Tefé Coari Manaus Phase 1: Solimões: Manaus Tabatinga 1,600 km By 2017 Porto Velho to national FO infrastructure to national FO infrastructure

22 Pilot project: Coari Tefé (Upper Solimões) 220 km, Mar-Apr, 2016 Cable from Nexans (Norway) Laid by Aquamar (Brazil) Optics from Padtec (Brazil) Connects to existing FO to Manaus RNP clients in Tefé include the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development, currently linked by satellite Tefé Coari

23 Cable-laying between Coari and Tefé, March/2016

24 Inauguration of subfluvial link Manaus-Tefé on 7th June 2016 Screenshot of Videoconferencing image in Manaus, involving a local judge in Tefé, conversing with the meeting of the Amazonia Connected programme in Manaus. Prior to this, all communication was conducted via satellite, without support for this quality of video.

25 A similar proposal: La Supercobra (Línea Amazónica Subacuática Perú Colombia Brasil) Jorge O Garcia Lozano (Colombia) presented at SubOptic 2013 a proposal for a subfluvial cable between Iquitos (Peru) and near to Manaus, to provide external terrestrial connectivity to Peruvian and Colombian Amazonia. 1A-4_Oral_173.pdf

26 Another proposal: extend the AC infrastructure westward into Peru 4 components: Tabatinga Iquitos (subfluvial) 420 km Iquitos Nauta (highway) 98 km Nauta Yurimaguas (subfluvial) 448 km Yurimaguas Paita (highway IIRSA Norte) 955 km Yurimaguas Iquitos Nauta Amazonas Leticia-Tabatinga IIRSA = Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America

27 Conclusions This first experience of the use of long-distance subfluvial cables may serve as example for more extensive projects in South America and in other similar regions. New international cable links in the South Atlantic will make a useful contribution to providing new routes which will increase the diversity and redundancy of global connectivity Questions? Comments?

28 Eduardo Grizendi, Director of Networks, RNP Michael Stanton, Director of R&D, RNP