Google has landed its Nuvem subsea cable in Portugal.

The search and cloud company this week announced the landing of Nuvem in Sines.

The search and cloud company first announced plans for Nuvem – the Portuguese word for cloud – in September 2023. The ~7,000km (4,349 miles) cable will feature 16 fiber pairs and offer a total of 384Tbps.

Set to link Portugal and the Azores, Bermuda, and the United States, the cable is due to enter service later this year.

“Nuvem marks Google's second major cable project in Portugal, following Equiano in 2022 and preceding the upcoming Nuvem and Sol cable landings in the Azores,” said Giorgia Abeltino, head of government affairs and public policy for Google Cloud Europe, Middle East & Africa. “Subsea cables carry the overwhelming majority of the world's data traffic - they are the invisible backbone of everything from AI to digital public services.”

Nuvem is set to land at a cable landing station (CLS) in Sines developed by Google. It landed in South Carolina in May at DC Blox’s Myrtle Beach CLS.

Google is developing a cable landing station in Lagoa on São Miguel island in the Azores to house its Nuvem and Sol cables. The company is also developing a landing station in Annie’s Bay in Bermuda.

Portuguese telecoms firm MEO has joined the project as an investor.

“Submarine cables are the invisible backbone of the digital economy, carrying the vast majority of international internet traffic. As demand for cloud, AI and digital services continues to grow, resilient and diverse international connectivity becomes more important than ever,” said Nuno Cadima, COO of MEO. “I am proud that MEO is part of this journey as Google’s national partner in the Nuvem system. Together, we are strengthening Portugal’s international connectivity and helping prepare our networks for the needs of the future. ”