Angola Cables Upgrades Atlantic Network For AI & Cloud

Angola Cables is upgrading capacity across its transatlantic submarine cable network to support growing demand for cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and other data-intensive services connecting Africa and the Americas.

The telecommunications company is deploying optical networking technology from Ciena across the MONET and South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) submarine cables.

MONET spans 10,556 kilometres between the United States and Brazil, while SACS connects Brazil and Angola across 6,165 kilometres. Together, the two systems provide a direct route between Angola and the United States, with a reported round-trip delay of about 130 milliseconds.

The upgrade is intended to increase the amount of data the network can carry while providing more flexible connectivity options for cloud providers, hyperscalers, content companies, enterprises and wholesale customers.

“Our submarine cable systems are a critical digital bridge connecting Africa with the Americas, offering a diverse and secure route between these continents, while demand from hyperscalers and cloud providers continues to accelerate. Together with Ciena, we will enhance the scale, flexibility, and intelligence of our subsea infrastructure to help customers build and expand AI-ready networks while maximizing the performance of our existing fiber assets,” Adriano Caldevilla, CTO, Angola Cables

Angola Cables will deploy Ciena’s Waveserver platform powered by WaveLogic 6 Extreme, alongside the 6500 Packet-Optical platform and Navigator Network Control Suite. The technology will be used to increase capacity across the existing subsea infrastructure and introduce additional options for routing traffic between the United States, Brazil and Africa. The deployment will also support 800G client interfaces on the MONET system.

“Demand for AI, cloud services, and digital applications is accelerating the need for higher-capacity, more intelligent networks. Ciena’s coherent optical and software solutions lay the foundation for AI-ready connectivity across the Atlantic, enabling Angola Cables to support hyperscalers and cloud providers with scalable, high-performance connectivity,” Fernando Capella, Regional Director for CALA South, Ciena.

The upgraded network will support connectivity ranging from individual 100Gbps connections to capacity across an entire fibre pair. Angola Cables will also be able to provide spectrum and managed optical fibre network services.

The deployment builds on Angola Cables’ previous use of Ciena technology across its subsea infrastructure. The upgrade comes as demand for international bandwidth continues to grow, driven by cloud services, AI workloads, content delivery and the expansion of digital services across African markets.

For Angola, the additional capacity strengthens one of the country’s key international links to data infrastructure in Brazil, the United States and other global markets, while providing additional connectivity options for organisations operating across Africa and the Americas.