Ultramar GE

Overview

Ultramar GE is a submarine cable system spanning 263 km in the Gulf of Guinea, connecting Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe. The cable provides a direct link between Annobon, a remote island territory of Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome, the main island of the archipelago nation of Sao Tome and Principe. Commissioned in 2023, this system enhances regional connectivity by serving as a dedicated corridor between two island territories located off the west coast of central Africa. As a relatively short intra-regional cable, Ultramar GE plays a strategic role in addressing the connectivity needs of these geographically isolated communities.

Route and Landings

The Ultramar GE cable begins in Annobon, Equatorial Guinea, an island situated in the southern Gulf of Guinea. Annobon is one of the most remote provinces of Equatorial Guinea, located approximately 670 km southwest of the mainland. The cable's other landing point is in Sao Tome, the largest and most populous island of Sao Tome and Principe, which lies about 140 km north of Annobon. Sao Tome serves as the political and economic hub of the island nation.

Geographically, the Gulf of Guinea is a key maritime region, and Ultramar GE’s route reflects the strategic importance of connecting these two islands. The cable traverses a relatively shallow section of the Atlantic Ocean, avoiding the need for extensive deep-sea engineering. By linking Annobon directly to Sao Tome, Ultramar GE bypasses the need for longer, indirect routes through mainland Africa or other regional systems, thus improving latency and reliability for local users.

Ownership and History

Ultramar GE is owned and operated by GITGE (Gestor de Infraestructuras de Telecomunicaciones de Guinea Ecuatorial), the state-owned telecommunications infrastructure manager of Equatorial Guinea. The cable was developed as part of GITGE’s broader efforts to enhance connectivity for the nation’s islands and to integrate them more effectively into regional and global telecommunications networks. Ultramar GE became ready for service in 2023, marking it as one of the newer submarine cable systems in the Gulf of Guinea region.

Equatorial Guinea has been actively investing in submarine cable infrastructure over the past decade. Prior to Ultramar GE, the country deployed the Ceiba-1 and Ceiba-2 cables in 2011 and 2017, respectively, to connect its mainland and island territories. Sao Tome and Principe, on the other hand, has relied on international connectivity through systems like the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable, which landed in the country in 2012. Ultramar GE is the first cable to provide a direct link between Annobon and Sao Tome, filling a critical gap in the region’s telecommunications network.

What Our Measurements Show

Our live monitoring of Ultramar GE has identified 173 measured corridors along its route. The cable demonstrates strong performance, with the best round-trip time (RTT) recorded at 60 milliseconds and an average RTT of 70 milliseconds. These results highlight the efficiency of the direct connection between Annobon and Sao Tome, particularly when compared to the longer latencies typically associated with routing through larger regional systems.

The cable’s performance underscores its importance in providing reliable and low-latency connectivity for the communities it serves. Annobon, in particular, benefits significantly from this direct link, as it previously relied on less efficient and more expensive alternatives for international and regional communication. By reducing latency and improving bandwidth availability, Ultramar GE enhances the quality of digital services and fosters greater integration between these two island territories in the Gulf of Guinea.