Brazil urged to prioritise open connectivity in submarine cable regulation
ARTICLE 19, ARTIGO 19 and Instituto Bem Estar Brasil have called for Brazil’s submarine cable governance framework to focus not only on expanding infrastructure but also on transparency, competition and public access.
ARTICLE 19, ARTIGO 19 and Instituto Bem Estar Brasil (IBEBrasil) have submitted recommendations to Brazil’s telecommunications regulator Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel), arguing that future submarine cable policies should promote a free, open and diverse connectivity ecosystem.
Brazil is already a major participant in the global submarine cable network, with around 17 international cables landing along its coastline. However, the country does not yet have a comprehensive regulatory framework for this critical infrastructure. Anatel’s public consultation on submarine cables is part of broader government efforts to strengthen telecommunications resilience and expand digital access.
The organisations noted that new cable routes are increasingly being developed as geopolitical tensions affect traditional connectivity corridors. Brazil has benefited from this shift, with projects such as Meta’s planned Waterworth cable, which is expected to connect South America and Africa, adding new international links.
The submission argues that expanding the number of submarine cables alone will not necessarily improve connectivity for users. It calls for greater transparency in cable capacity agreements, allowing regulators to better understand how international capacity is allocated between private uses, such as data centre traffic, and public connectivity needs.
The recommendations also highlight the importance of creating a competitive and open connectivity market. Proposed measures include incentives for open-access cable landing stations, improved interconnection between submarine cable systems and terrestrial networks, and technical interoperability requirements that allow multiple operators to access international capacity.
The organisations further stressed that geographic diversification of cable landing points should be combined with policies supporting competition and domestic connectivity. According to the submission, infrastructure expansion will have limited public benefit unless different operators can effectively use new cable capacity to improve connectivity across regions of Brazil.
