SPARKLE TO PARTNER WITH LIBERTY NETWORKS AND GOLD DATA IN NEW PAN-REGIONAL SUBSEA CABLE SYSTEM

The new system, “MANTA,” will provide unique high-capacity and low-latency routes between Mexico, Panama, Colombia, and the USA

Liberty Networks, a leading infrastructure and enterprise connectivity provider in Latin America and the Caribbean, part of Liberty Latin America (LLA), and Gold Data, a technology company focused on telecommunications infrastructure providing international connectivity in the Caribbean and Latin America, announced that Sparkle, a global player in the submarine cable industry with a strong presence in the Americas, will join as a new partner to collaborate on the construction and commercialization of MANTA.

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Liberty Networks, Gold Data, and Sparkle collaborate on the construction and commercialization of MANTA, the new pan-regional subsea cable system. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Liberty Networks and Gold Data previously announced a partnership to combine their subsea systems, GD-1 and LN-1. The parties have agreed to rename the system MANTA with the new partnership. Sparkle will join Liberty Networks and Gold Data on the northern portion of MANTA, connecting the USA to Mexico, and will join Liberty Networks on the southern portion, accessing Panama and Colombia.

The MANTA subsea system will be the first international submarine cable in the Gulf of Mexico, connecting Mexico and the USA with Central and Latin America. The system is estimated to be 5,600km long and designed to support a minimum of 20Tb per fiber pair. With new landing access points in Veracruz, Mexico, and Apalachee, Florida, the MANTA system aims to improve traffic flow in the region by providing new low-latency routes to interconnect major data hubs in Mexico City, Queretaro, Bogota, and Panama City with the USA.

"We are excited that Sparkle is joining with Gold Data and ourselves to deliver this critical infrastructure that will completely revolutionize connectivity across the region for decades to come," said Ray Collins, Liberty Latin America's SVP of Infrastructure and Corporate Strategy. "MANTA represents our ongoing commitment to facilitating seamless connectivity across the Caribbean and Latin America region with a reliable and resilient solution focused on the future of data traffic."

"We are delighted to have Sparkle join Liberty Networks and us in the development of MANTA. Together, we will establish a new data highway to revolutionize connectivity between Mexico and the USA," stated Renato A. Tradardi, CEO of Gold Data.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with Liberty Networks and Gold Data on this groundbreaking project," said Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle. "MANTA will establish the foundation for future innovations that drive digital acceleration throughout the region. Together, we are committed to building a new pan-regional subsea cable system that meets the growing demands of businesses and customers across the region."

The new subsea cable system, MANTA, is expected to be operational by 2027. The companies plan to announce their technology provider soon.

​To learn more, join representatives from all companies at Capacity EUROPE 2024, Intercontinental at the 02, London UK, on October 15-17, 2024. Sparkle: stand 702 and Liberty Networks: Global Leaders Forum lounge.

ABOUT LIBERTY NETWORKS

Liberty Networks is a leading infrastructure and enterprise connectivity provider in Latin America and the Caribbean, connecting approximately 40 countries with nearly 50,000 kilometers of submarine fiber optic cable and 17,000 kilometers of terrestrial networks. At Liberty Networks, we partner with enterprises, carriers, and business communities, leveraging our expansive network infrastructure, next-generation solutions portfolio, and data center network to provide a solid foundation that enables business success across the region. To learn more about Liberty Networks, visit www.libertynet.com and follow us on LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

ABOUT GOLD DATA

Gold Data is a multinational award-winning technology company, which focuses on telecommunications infrastructure and services and provides direct connectivity through the Americas and the Caribbean, interconnecting more than 156 PoPs, 76 data centers with a presence in 35 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Gold Data relies on its strategic PoPs, diverse subsea capacity and its fully-owned network to deliver the complete end-to-end solution to and from Latin America and the Caribbean for MNCs, global carriers and OTT customers.

For more information, please visit: https://golddata.net/

ABOUT SPARKLE

Sparkle is TIM Group’s Global Operator, first international service provider in Italy and among the top worldwide, offering a full range of infrastructure and global connectivity services – capacity, IP, SD-WAN, colocation, IoT connectivity, roaming and voice - to national and international Carriers, OTTs, ISPs, Media/Content Providers, and multinational enterprises. A major player in the submarine cable industry, Sparkle owns and manages a network of more than 600,000 km of fiber spanning from Europe to Africa and the Middle East, the Americas and Asia. Its sales force is active worldwide and distributed over 33 countries.

Find out more about Sparkle by following its X and LinkedIn profiles or visiting the website at tisparkle.com.

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