Tata Communications anchor tenant on Seabras-1 U.S.-Brazil cable system

Tata Communications (NYSE: TCL) and Seaborn Networks have announced that Tata will be an anchor tenant on Seaborn’s planned submarine cable between the United States and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The undersea cable system, Seabras-1, will enable Tata Communications to provide fully integrated network services from Brazil to its networks in the US, Europe, Africa, Asia, and India.

Seaborn Networks plans for the Seabras-1 system to be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2014, just behind Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 World Cup but in time for the 2016 Summer Olympics, which also will be held in Brazil. The 32-Tbps system will connect Miami and Sao Paulo, with a branch that lands in Fortaleza, Brazil.

"Latin America is a key region on the world stage and our plan to purchase capacity on Seabras-1 would ensure we have the fastest route between Brazil’s major commercial centre and the US. It aligns us with the most viable new subsea project in one of the fastest growing markets in the world," says Vinod Kumar, managing director and CEO, Tata Communications. "This expansion would further extend the global reach of the Tata Global Network (TGN) and forms part of our strategic global connectivity plans."

"With bandwidth and connectivity growth demand in Latin America at unprecedented levels, we look forward to having Tata Communications as an anchor tenant customer," says Larry Schwartz, CEO, Seaborn Networks. "Tata Communications' intended acquisition of capacity on Seabras-1 is indicative of the pent-up demand in the market for an express submarine cable route between the US and Sao Paulo."

Pioneer Consulting forecasts that international submarine capacity demand for Latin America will be more than 32 Tbps by 2020.