Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, the undersea cables subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent, has been awarded the development of the Sonangol Offshore Optical Cable (SOOC).

The cable is described as being a critical infrastructure project which will dramatically reduce the cost-per-bit associated with the delivery of data traffic to Angola, including its offshore oil and gas production facilities.

According to a statement issued by the company, the SOOC undersea network, which spans 1,900 km, will connect to landing points at four locations along the Angolan coast and "will allow the country's oil and gas industry to benefit from very large offshore data bandwidth with high availability, high reliability and low latency."

The network solution firm believes SOOC will enable better operational efficiency and optimise operational costs and will also bring significant benefits to the Angolan economy, as a high-speed connection will be established between the Luanda area and Cabinda to fulfill national telecom needs.

The development phase is under way and construction work is scheduled to start in second half of 2016.

Yohann Bénard, Oil & Gas General Manager of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, said "After connecting Angola to the global network through several undersea cables, ASN is pleased to further contribute to the development of the Angolan fiber optical infrastructure. This award is a prime illustration that submarine fiber-optic technology is becoming the standard telecommunication medium for offshore assets. It further demonstrates our leadership in the platform connectivity market, which is one of the priorities of ASN's industrial plan to diversify into the oil and gas sector."