Telefonica Espana to deploy new submarine data cable connecting Canary Islands to mainland

Telefónica España will undertake the installation of the Pencan-X submarine cable to link the Canary Islands directly with the Iberian Peninsula.

Pencan-X will replace one of the three existing submarine routes between the Canary Islands archipelago and the peninsula, a route that is close to the end of its useful life, as well as increasing capacity tenfold.

"In this way, the deployment of Pencan-X will be essential to respond to the growing needs of the population and tourism of the Canary Islands (about 16 million tourists per year), in an archipelago that is home to two of the most powerful high performance computers in Spain (TEIDE HPC and LAPALMA HPC) and is the headquarters of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), one of the most important astrophysical observatories in the world," said Telefónica.

The project, which began in December, has an estimated duration of 24 months, with mooring in the province of Cádiz and on the island of Gran Canaria.

For its execution, the project has received funds from the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) program of the European Commission. In addition, Telefónica España has been awarded complementary aid for a specific part of the project by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed by the European Union – Next Generation EU.