Malbec cable lands in Brazil, Argentina
Meta and GlobeNet have activated Malbec, a 2,500 km subsea cable linking Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in Brazil. The route is slated to extend to Porto Alegre, Brazil, and onward to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The landing station at Las Toninas in Buenos Aires Province is run by GlobeNet’s Argentine subsidiary.
The cable is named for the Argentine wine grape and roughly doubles the capacity available to Argentina, according to the project’s backers. It relies on recent fiber-optic advances, including spatial division multiplexing plus newer repeater and transponder designs, to deliver faster and more consistent connectivity. NERA Economic Consulting estimates that the added capacity will lift internet penetration by 6 percent in Argentina and 3 percent in Brazil.
The push for bandwidth has accelerated as Argentine businesses shifted online during the COVID-19 pandemic, with remote and hybrid work now standard for many employers. Malbec is intended to support that shift by giving more residents and companies access to reliable connections, which the project’s partners note has a direct effect on local economic activity.
Part of a broader cable push
Malbec follows the same open, partnership-based model Meta has used for its subsea projects, including the previously announced 2Africa Pearls and Apricot cables. The architecture is designed to remain flexible, so that equipment can be upgraded in place to accommodate future traffic growth without requiring new cable builds.
