English (UK) 
简体中文(中国) The Equiano subsea cable landed on the beach in California, with entry into the cable landing station in Sesimbra, Portugal on May 25, 2022. A Google LLC company, Blue Path Technology Unlimited Company contracted with the Portugese State to land the Equiano cable in Portugal in September 2021. MEO, a subsidiary of Altice Portugal (formerly Portugal Telecom), was contracted as landing parther to provide and operate the Sesimbra Cable Landing Station.
On May 17, there was an Equiano Portugai Landing ceremony, the Portugese Prime Minister António Costa and other officials and representatives of related companies participated in the ceremony.
The Equiano subsea cable will initially connect Sesimbra (Portugal) to Cape Town (South Africa), with branches to Accra (Ghana), Lagos (Nigeria), Lomé (Togo), Swakopmund (Namibia) and Saint Helena (Rupert's bay). The Equiano cable landed in Lomé (Togo) in March and Lagos (Nigeria) in April.
In September 2021, the Portugese State and Google signed a concession contract for installing the new Equiano submarine cable to connect Portugal to South Africa. With a term of 25 years, the concession contract was signed by the Directorate General for Natural Resources, Security and Maritime Services (DGRM), representing the Portuguese State, and Blue Path Technology Unlimited Company, a company mandated for the purpose by Google LLC.
Being a Google LLC company, Blue Path Technology Unlimited Company was set up in Dublin, Ireland on November 1st, 2013.
According to DGRM, the Equiano subsea cable spans 610 km in the Portugal mainland EEZ sub-area and 769 kilometers in the Madeira sub-area.
The title for the private use of maritime space was issued by DGRM, in compliance with national maritime spatial planning rules, and its holder is the Google LLC company, Blue Path Technology Unlimited Company.
Blue Path Technology Unlimited Company has contracted with the company MEO – Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia, SA to provide and manage the submarine cable station in Sesimbra. MEO, a mobile and fixed telecommunications service and brand from Altice Portugal (formerly Portugal Telecom). Altice Portugal is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal, being a wholly owned subsidiary of the France-based Altice Europe since June, 2015.
There are five main cable landing sites in Portugal: Sesimbra, Carcavelos, Seixal, Lisbon and Sines.
Equiano landing in the Sesimbra cable landing station and the Ellalink landing in Sines form the latest international subsea cables connecting Portugal. 2Africa and Medusa will land in Portugal in coming years.
Given its geogranphic location, Portugal assumes a strategic role in international submarine cable infrastructure.
