Posted on 12 July 2025.
The Regional Government of the Azores has welcomed the latest announcement from Google regarding the construction of its Sol submarine cable system, which will include a landing point on São Miguel Island.
The Sol cable, unveiled by Google on July 9, 2025, will connect Florida (Palm Coast) with Portugal, Spain, Bermuda, and the Azores, creating a high-capacity, low-latency digital bridge between North America and Europe.
The Azores sit at a strategic midpoint between North America and Europe, making them an ideal hub for routing transatlantic data traffic. This new infrastructure will further consolidate the Azores’ position as a critical mid-Atlantic hub for global digital connectivity.
The system complements the previously announced Nuvem cable, also landing in the Azores, and will become operational between 2026 and Q1 2027. Together, these cables represent a major technological investment in the resilience and performance of transatlantic internet traffic.
“This is not merely an infrastructure upgrade—it is a strategic recognition of the Azores’ geolocation and global relevance,” said José Manuel Bolieiro, President of the Regional Government of the Azores.
“The inclusion of our region in this high-tech international network elevates our role from a geographic crossroads to a digital gateway between continents,” he reiterated
According to Google Cloud Vice President Brian Quigley, “Sol will add capacity, increase reliability, and decrease latency for Google users and Google Cloud customers around the world.” A 10-megawatt landing facility is planned on São Miguel, with construction already underway and commissioning expected by early 2027.
Artur Lima, Vice-President of the Azorean Government, emphasized the impact, “This is extraordinary. We have long spoken of the geostrategic value of the Azores. Now, with multiple international submarine cables landing on São Miguel, that vision is becoming reality.”
The dual inclusion of the Azores in both Sol and Nuvem ensures route diversity and network resilience across the Atlantic, critical in the face of increasing data demands and the need for secure, redundant connectivity.
For the Azores, the cables promise transformative benefits, enhancing internet speed, attracting digital industries, supporting education and innovation, and boosting the region’s role in the global cloud and AI infrastructure ecosystem.
The project has been declared of “regional strategic public interest” by the Azorean authorities, who see this as a foundational step toward a diversified, knowledge-based economy powered by digital opportunity.
Google’s decision to land two transatlantic submarine cables, Nuvem and Sol, in the Azores is driven by both geographic strategy and technological necessity.
About
Announced in September 2023, Google’s Nuvem (“cloud” in Portuguese) is a fiber-optic subsea cable system designed to connect the US (East Coast), Portugal, and Bermuda In June 2024, Google confirmed it would extend the Nuvem system to include a landing point in the Azores—specifically São Miguel Island—marking the first international cable landing on the archipelago. The project is considered of significant public interest by the Azorean Regional Government, with formal approval granted in July 2024.
On July 9, 2025, Google publicly unveiled its newest transatlantic cable system, named Sol (“sun”), which will connect Florida (Palm Coast), Bermuda, the Azores, Spain (Santander), and mainland Portugal.
Sol will interconnect with the Nuvem system both in the US and in Iberia, as well as at landing stations in Bermuda and the Azores, adding significant redundancy and reducing latency in Google’s global network infrastructure.
Sol is expected to become operational in 2026.PAJ/Staff
Source: azores.gov.pt
