The sea currents regularly expose the old infrastructures that are under the sand of Las Canteras beach. On this occasion, a section of what was the first fiber optic cable in the world that connects Gran Canaria and Tenerife has emerged. This infrastructure is located at the height of Cayetana Manrique street in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Construction work began in 1985 and two years later the first tests took place. A milestone in the history of telecommunications that allowed the Government of the Canary Islands at that time to hold a meeting by videoconference for the first time and that served as a test to implement a larger one between Europe and North America.
The history of Optican’s cable -the company in charge of building this infrastructure together with Telefónica- is not as well known as that of the old power plant of La Cícer. From time to time, the movements of sand expose remains of different infrastructures that were part of the factory that gave light to a good part of the city and the Island and that was located where the Go Fit gym is today. The blog Mi playa de Las Canteras has echoed on this occasion the outcropping of the fiber optic cable.
With its 116 kilometers long, the work for the construction of the Optican cable began in September 1985. In a first phase, they linked the Altavista Telefónica central with Las Canteras beach to later connect with the coast of Candelaria, in Tenerife. This infrastructure, new for its time, made it possible to transmit voice, data and images simultaneously and with practically no interference, according to the company’s technicians at the time. Although it is mostly deep underground, on the coast it is covered by a layer of steel. This is precisely what has come to light these days in La Cícer.
Its launch meant a milestone in the history of telecommunications, not only at the Archipelago level, but also worldwide. The Islands entered the digital age. Fiber optics thus greatly reduced the interference caused by coaxial cables., something possible due to its greater bandwidth. The latter were used for most of the 20th century to send telegrams or telefaxes.
With three repeaters along its route, Optican’s was a rehearsal for the implementation of a much larger infrastructure. The idea was to test its effectiveness to implement one of similar characteristics between Europe and North America in the early 1990s.. In fact, its construction was financed through an agreement between Telefónica and American Telephone and Telegraph and involved an investment of 6,500 million dollars.
the americans they chose the Islands because of the orography of the seabed between Tenerife and Gran Canaria -with depths of up to 3,000 meters-. The channel has conditions similar to those found in the middle of the Atlantic between its two shores, which is why the company founded by Alexander Graham Bell -inventor of the telephone- was interested in the Archipelago for this first trial.
