App assists in the installation of fiber optic cables in the rivers of Brazil

By Ana Pastana – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – Developing research and science to directly benefit the lives of riverside communities in the Amazon, the State University (UEA), through the monitoring application Selva, developed by students and technology professors at the university, assists the Ministry of Communications (MCom) in the implementation of fiber optic cables by monitoring environmental variables such as rainfall and lightning discharges in real time.

The seasonal hydroclimatic bulletin, also developed by UEA through research, supports the department responsible for the project by monitoring soil conditions for the installation of the cables, which will be submerged in the waters of the Solimões River.

A total of 12 municipalities in the state are receiving improved internet access through the implementation of fiber optic cables, which will expand communication and connectivity in the benefiting regions. UEA has been assisting MCom with the Infovia 02 project, which is part of the federal government’s Norte Conectado program, promoting quality education to transform the Amazon.

The installation of fiber optic cables, which will remain submerged in the waters of the Solimões River, will benefit 370,000 inhabitants in the municipalities of Tefé, Alvarães, Uarini, Fonte Boa, Jutaí, Tonantins, Santo Antônio do Içá, Amaturá, São Paulo de Olivença, Belém do Solimões, Tabatinga, and Benjamin Constant, in the interior of Amazonas. These areas will see expanded internet services in public schools, hospitals, and even public squares equipped with Wi-Fi for municipal residents.

Installation

More than 1,000 kilometers of cables will be installed underwater in the Solimões River. Each implemented infovia will have cables composed of 24 pairs of fiber optics with a capacity of up to 20 terabytes (TB) – a unit of data storage measurement – per second. The cables were designed to last at least 25 years submerged in the rivers.

In practical terms, the internet speed will allow the simultaneous streaming of the equivalent of 200,000 high-quality HD videos.

Community Reach

UEA, with the support of its faculty, is promoting workshops for riverside and Indigenous communities that will also be impacted by the arrival of the internet. For Augusto Gomes, a student assisting in the project’s implementation, some communities already had internet access. “This expands the voices of all collectives, and through the partnership with the university, it increases the reach of Indigenous peoples, riverside dwellers, and quilombolas. We already had stable internet here, and now we’ll reach even further [with the arrival of fiber optic cables],” said Gomes.

Yomarley Holanda, a professor at the university in the municipality of Tefé, in the interior of Amazonas, 519 kilometers from Manaus, states that the Infovia 02 project positively impacts communities by expanding technological development in the region. “We are talking about 12 municipalities in the Middle and Upper Solimões that will be positively impacted by this project. All the theoretical knowledge from the university is being applied in practice, and everyone is contributing to the region’s technological development,” he stated.

According to the federal government, the infrastructure is expected to be connected to metropolitan networks in the cities, providing high-speed internet access to public schools, health units, courts, Armed Forces organizations, police battalions, research centers, a river agency, and approximately 12,000 Indigenous people distributed across 30 villages, all located in Belém do Solimões.

Selva

In October 2023, the public university launched the Selva monitoring application in response to the environmental challenges faced in the Amazon region. The platform, which monitors real-time wildfires and the Air Quality Index (AQI), has been helping track air quality throughout the year, specifically during the dry season when wildfire rates increase in the state, consequently worsening the air quality in the region.

With real-time information such as the location and intensity of fires, the app provides data to responsible authorities, allowing for a faster and more effective response to safeguard public health in the state.

Developed by UEA through the Environmental Program on Air Pollution (EducAIR), the application also monitors environmental variables such as rainfall and lightning discharges in real time.

Edited by Izaías Godinho
Translated from Portuguese by Gustô Alves