FIRST STONE OF INTERNET MEGA-HUB LAID

GRANADILLA DE ABONA, Tenerife, Tuesday February 9 2010

THE FOUNDATION stone of Tenerife's new regional internet hub was laid in Granadilla on Tuesday.

by JAMES TWEEDIE

The NAPWACI (Neutral Access Point for West Africa and the Canary Islands) will provide non-preferential access to all telecommunications companies, said Tenerife's Cabildo government.

Scheduled for completion in 2011, it is intended to exponentially increase internet connectivity between the archipelago, its African neighbours and the developing nations of Latin America.

Submarine cable stations will also improve telecommunications between Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Palma and the Spanish mainland.

The hub will also connect to a new fibre-optic ring to allow businesses and households Tenerife to benefit from the improved connectivity.

As well as acting as a hub for internet connections within the region and to the rest of the world, the NAPWACI is also designed to provide data storage infrastructure for companies who wish to operate in West Africa from inside the European Union.

The scheme is part of the Cabildo's ALiX project to increase the island's attractiveness to international firms.

The hub and data centre will be built within the Institute of Technology and Renewable Energies (ITER), a company majority-owned by the Cabildo.

The site was chosen as a mooring point for the undersea cables which will carry data to and from Africa for its south-east facing coast and southern latitude.

The NAPWACI will also make use of wind and solar energy from ITER and from 400 kilowatts-worth of solar panels built into its roof.

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