Norte Conectado (Infovia 00)

Norte Conectado (Infovia 00): what this cable is

Norte Conectado (Infovia 00) is the pilot, the very first stretch of Brazil's Norte Conectado program, the one that began the laying of a subfluvial (riverbed) fiber backbone across the Amazon. Infovia 00 was the proof of concept for the whole program: it tested the technique of laying fiber along riverbeds where there are no roads, and the approach was then scaled to the other stretches.

Infovia 00 links Santarém (Pará state) with Macapá (Amapá state) along the Lower Amazon, serving six localities. The stretch was implemented by the National Education and Research Network (RNP) in 2017-2021 and has been in service for several years, unlike the later stretches commissioned in 2025-2026.

Geography and route

The roughly 830 km route runs along the lower course of the Amazon and passes through Santarém, Monte Alegre, Alenquer, Almeirim, and on to Macapá. This is the region's classic "river highway": fiber follows the natural transport corridor of the river, reaching towns that previously had no terrestrial fiber anchor.

Part of the Norte Conectado program

Infovia 00 is the "zero", the starting stretch of the Norte Conectado program, planned in total for roughly 13,200 km of subfluvial fiber, more than 70 settlements, and about 7.5 million residents across six Amazon states. Its experience informed the sibling stretches, including Infovia 03 (mouth of the Amazon, Belém to Macapá) and the western Infovia 02, stitched into a single northern-region backbone.

Technical specifications

• Type: subfluvial (riverbed) backbone, the program's pilot stretch.
• Route: Santarém (Pará) to Macapá (Amapá), Lower Amazon, 6 localities.
• Length: about 830 km of fiber.
• Implementation: RNP (Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa), 2017-2021; in service.
• Operating model: the stretch is used by several regional telecom companies.

Why Infovia 00 matters: the pilot that proved the approach

The value of Infovia 00 is twofold. First, like the other stretches, it is digital inclusion: lower-Amazon towns received riverbed-and-terrestrial fiber instead of satellite. Second, and unique to the pilot, it proved that subfluvial deployment works at all in Amazon conditions, opening the way for the entire 13,200 km program.

• lower-Amazon municipalities moved from satellite to fiber, fundamentally changing latency and capacity;
• it created a basis for telehealth, education, and government services in remote river towns;
• the proven technique became the template for the later infovias.

What is known and what is not yet disclosed

• Infovia 00 is the pilot subfluvial stretch of Norte Conectado, Santarém to Macapá, about 830 km, 6 localities;
• implemented by RNP in 2017-2021, in service;
• used by several regional operators.

Not yet fully disclosed: the current split of load and capacity among operators and detailed segment-by-segment operating statistics.

Technically: what effect to expect

• Latency. For lower-Amazon towns this means tens of milliseconds over a riverbed-and-terrestrial route instead of geostationary satellite delay.
• Capacity. The fiber backbone removed satellite's hard limits, opening proper access for schools, clinics, and business.
• Maturity. As the earliest stretch, Infovia 00 has accumulated real operating experience, valuable for assessing the resilience of river lines.

Why this matters for GeoCables / monitoring weak points

Infovia 00 is interesting as the most "road-tested" river stretch: it shows how subfluvial fiber behaves over long operation.

For monitoring it is worth tracking latency stability on a mature stretch, line behavior in the flood season, correlation between outages and nodes falling back to satellite, and how Infovia 00 stitches together with the newer stretches of the program.

Short conclusion

Norte Conectado (Infovia 00) is the pilot subfluvial backbone of the Lower Amazon, Santarém to Macapá, the stretch that started the whole program. Its meaning is not only connecting six towns, but proving the viability of river fiber in the Amazon and setting the template for the 13,200 km of network that followed.

Sources

• BNamericas - Norte Conectado Program (Infovia 00), project profile
• RNP - implementation of the Lower Amazon pilot stretch
• Brazil Ministry of Communications (MCom) - Norte Conectado program