Latest update March 24th, 2026 2:19 PM
Testing of Guyana/Brazil fibre optic cable to re-commence
Feb 21, 2012 News
Testing of the Guyana/Brazil fibre optic cable is set to re-commence shortly, a senior official said yesterday, as the government looks to push ahead with the US$6 million project which is running behind schedule.
Walter Willis, the government’s chief engineer, said testing of the cable was paused because the main testing officer was out of the country, but with his return, this aspect of the project can now proceed again.
The project, which commenced at the start of last year, is intended to boost the government’s ability to carry out its “e-governance” strategy.
The 560-kilometre cable was laid in six blocks, namely from Lethem to Annai, then from Annai to Kurupukari, from Kurupukari to Mabura, Mabura to Wisroc, Wisroc to Providence and then from Providence to Georgetown.
For the functioning of the cable, Willis explained that five repeater stations need to be constructed. Of these, the one at Linden is more advanced than the others, he said.
The cable was laid in 10-kilometre stretches, and as a result, connecting “joint boxes” also have to be constructed every 10 kilometres. Willis said that he expects most of the civil works to be completed by the end of next month.
This week, it is expected that the submarine cable would be laid across the river at Kurupukari.
The project is part of the government’s plan to improve internet access in Guyana and would have a direct impact on the One Laptop Per family Project through which the government hopes to provide free internet access to all communities across the country.
The landing of the cable was done by MMC, Dax Contracting and Dynamic Engineering, which were responsible for burying cables along the route and use Guyana Power & Light (GPL) poles to suspend the cables.
The design of the project was carried out by E-Networks (Guyana), Huawei (China) and Oi (Brazil).
The project came shortly after GT&T landed a US$60M fibre optic cable from Suriname.
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