“The BELLA-S project can be considered a success story”, highlights the report published by the European Commission.

(By Fábio Rodrigues, from FCCN) “A remarkable step forward that the European Commission and each partner can be proud of”. This is how the European Commission describes the BELLA-S project – the action line of the BELLA Programme focused on the construction of the EllaLink fiber optic submarine cable, which created a direct link between Europe and Latin America.

The European Commission's assessment was published at the end of March, through its General Directorate for Network, Content and Technology Communications, which published a report with an overall assessment of the project. The document stresses the very positive impact of the initiative: “The project achieved exceptional results with significant potential and immediate impact”.

It is recalled that the construction of the EllaLink submarine cable began in 2019, with installation starting in December 2020 and ending on February 28, 2021. The connection between Europe and Latin America is carried out through Portuguese and Brazilian territories, with stations in Sines and Fortaleza. The 6,000-kilometre cable is now in use, after its official opening in June 2021.

The European Commission report describes BELLA-S as a “very ambitious and strategically important” project that has achieved its objective of “responding to the long-term high-capacity interconnectivity needs of European and South American education and research networks”.

The European Commission document also leaves a set of recommendations for the future, namely the creation of new use cases, the launch of a publication on the construction of the project or the strengthening of political and institutional relations between Europe and Latin America.