CSN-1 milestones

Landing in Colombia

Thanks to CSN-1 —Telconet's exclusive initiative— a new submarine cable lands in Colombia for the first time in 10 years, confirming our commitment to the digital development of Latin America and our confidence in the region's future.

Landing in Panama

CSN-1 moves forward on Panama's Caribbean coast.

Alcatel Submarine Networks' vessel Ile de Sein completed the CSN-1 shore-end at Playa Diablillo.

Vessel loading completed

CSN-1 has been successfully loaded in Calais, France, aboard Alcatel Submarine Networks' vessel Ile de Sein. The Ile de Sein is sailing to the Caribbean to begin laying the cable, expected to be completed in early 2026.

Fiber and repeater manufacturing

Alcatel Submarine Networks completed the manufacturing of the repeaters and the 4,500 km of cable that make up the segments of the Carnival One (CSN-1) submarine cable.

Land acquisition

One of the starting points that confirms the landing location in each country the submarine cable system will reach is the acquisition of the land where the Cable Landing Stations (CLS) will be built.

This milestone kicks off several processes related to defining the terrestrial route the fiber cable will follow after landing at the beach manhole (BMH), as well as the corresponding permits. The relevant dates for this milestone are:

• Ecuador: January 2023
• Colombia: October 2022
• Panama: June 2022 (Costa del Este), August 2024 (Playa Diablillo)
• United States: August 2023

100% route survey

One of the most important milestones in the construction phase of a submarine cable system is the marine survey, a complete review of the predefined route for laying the fiber optic cable.

The CSN-1 survey took several months, covering both the Pacific segment between Ecuador and Panama and the Caribbean segment between Panama, Colombia and the United States, and was completed in July 2023.

ASN contract signing and CiF

After several months of negotiations, Telconet and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) signed the contract on December 17, 2021.

The contract signed in December 2021 entered its execution phase in March 2022, when the “Contract coming into Force” (CiF) took place.

Supplier award

The process began with the launch of the RFI (Request for Information) in December 2020, a major challenge at the time, as it was the year of the pandemic.

In 2021 the RFQ (Request for Quotation) was launched, with the participation of the main submarine system manufacturers. Its evaluation and results led Telconet to select Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) in September 2021 as the contractor for manufacturing the fiber cable and the equipment needed to implement the CSN-1 submarine cable system.

Alcatel is a France-based company and one of the leaders in the submarine cable industry, with more than half a million kilometers installed around the world and over 150 years of history. Alcatel's commitment goes beyond manufacturing the cable: it offers a complete set of support, installation, commissioning and maintenance services, backed by its own fleet of cable ships, ensuring reliability and efficiency in marine operations.

DRG selected as Project Manager

DRG Undersea Consulting Inc. is a group of consultants with more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, specializing in the planning, engineering, construction management, operation and commercialization of submarine fiber optic telecommunications infrastructure worldwide.

This positioning, together with its complementary knowledge of terrestrial networks for critical backhaul facilities in submarine and national backbone networks, and a team recognized for its broad perspective and deep experience, led Telconet to choose DRG as advisor and Project Manager for CSN-1 in January 2021.