Google is preparing a new connectivity architecture across Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States, and Europe. Americas Connect will combine three new submarine cable systems—Alisios, Canoa, and OlaLuz—with a new branch of Firmina and the existing routes Curie, Nuvem, and Sol. Announced on August 11, 2026, this project goes beyond just adding capacity: it aims to create alternative routes between regions of Google Cloud and reduce reliance on a few international corridors.
Key facts about Americas Connect in 30 seconds
- Google will deploy three new submarine systems: Alisios, Canoa, and OlaLuz.
- Alisios will connect the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Chile; Canoa will link the Dominican Republic with Bermuda; and OlaLuz will reach Florida.
- Firmina will incorporate a new branch toward the Dominican Republic.
- The network will integrate with Curie, Nuvem, and Sol to create redundant pathways.
- Americas Connect will connect Google Cloud infrastructure in Chile, the United States, and Madrid.
For years, digital transformation has largely been explained through applications, cloud computing, data centers, and more recently, the vast computational load required to train and run AI models.
But there is a much less visible physical infrastructure connecting all these elements: fiber optic submarine cables.
The expansion of AI further increases their importance. Building a data center with tens of thousands of accelerators is of little use if that capacity cannot communicate effectively with users, other cloud regions, enterprise networks, and other data centers—requiring sufficient bandwidth and redundancy.
Americas Connect demonstrates how major cloud providers are responding to this challenge. Google’s solution isn’t just a single point-to-point connection but a network of cables that can operate together, providing multiple paths for traffic transport.
Three new cables, one unified architecture
The first component is Alisios, which will connect the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Chile.
On the Pacific coast, Google proposes a submarine ring with redundant routes between Chile and Panama, plus a third link from Panama to the U.S. West Coast. This infrastructure will provide connectivity to Google Cloud regions in Chile, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.
The second part of Alisios extends through the Caribbean from Panama to the Dominican Republic. From there, it will connect with links toward the U.S. East Coast and Google Cloud regions in South Carolina and Virginia.
This configuration is significant because it breaks the traditional image of a submarine cable as a simple point-to-point connection. Instead, Americas Connect resembles a mesh of interconnected routes.
The second new system, Canoa, will connect the Dominican Republic with Bermuda. From there, it will link to Nuvem and Sol to form rings toward the United States and Europe.
Notably, Google explicitly states that this architecture will provide connectivity to its Madrid region in Europe.
The third system, OlaLuz, will directly connect the Dominican Republic with Florida, adding capacity and diversity between the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast.
Google will also extend Firmina with a new branch to the Dominican Republic. Designed to connect North and South America, incorporating this new landing point broadens its capabilities within the architecture.
The result is a network where Alisios, Canoa, and OlaLuz do not operate in isolation but are combined with Firmina, Curie, Nuvem, and Sol to create multiple routing options across South America, the Caribbean, the U.S., and Europe.
Dominican Republic as a central hub
Examining the Americas Connect map reveals a recurring presence: Dominican Republic.
All three new systems will have connections there.
Alisios will arrive from Panama, Canoa will head toward Bermuda, and OlaLuz will provide link to Florida. Additionally, Firmina will create a new branch to the country.
This makes the Dominican Republic a key interconnection point within Google’s announced design, although it’s premature to assume that this infrastructure will automatically turn the country into a major regional data hub.
Connectivity is necessary but not sufficient.
Attracting large-scale facilities also depends on factors like electricity availability and cost, access to renewables, land, network stability, taxation, permits, legal security, and skilled professionals.
Nevertheless, having multiple international routes can significantly improve a territory’s position with cloud operators, content distribution networks, and companies seeking regional infrastructure deployment.
It also offers another advantage: resilience.
Submarine cables are vulnerable to disruptions caused by fishing activity, anchors, earthquakes, submarine landslides, and other incidents. Having multiple routes allows traffic to be rerouted when one connection fails temporarily.
Google emphasizes the geographic diversity of these routes as a key goal of Americas Connect.
Chile’s expanding digital infrastructure gains another exit
Chile occupies another especially strategic position in the project.
Already connected via Curie, Google’s cable linking Chile and California, the new Alisios will add a route through Panama and the Caribbean.
This offers a different perspective on Chile’s connectivity.
Chile isn’t only linked to the U.S. West Coast; the combination of infrastructure opens routes to the Caribbean, U.S. East Coast, and — via other systems — Europe.
This is particularly relevant as cloud infrastructure and data centers expand in Latin America.
Large data centers require multiple independent pathways. As the concentration of enterprise and AI workloads in a region increases, so does the cost of communication outages.
That’s why international connectivity is becoming as critical as electricity supply.
A region may have renewable energy and suitable land for data centers, but it still needs to transmit vast amounts of data to other markets.
Digital infrastructure has a geographical dimension.
Panama as a crossroads between Pacific and Caribbean
Panama holds a special strategic position.
Alisios will use the country as a junction between the Pacific segment from Chile and the Caribbean route toward the Dominican Republic.
Historically, Panama has been a natural hub for transportation and telecom infrastructure between the two oceans.
Americas Connect leverages this trait.
Google proposes a Pacific submarine ring connecting Chile and Panama, complemented by a third link from Panama to the U.S. West Coast. From Panama, Alisios will extend to the Dominican Republic via the Caribbean.
Thus, Panama acts as a key piece connecting Pacific infrastructure with the new Caribbean routes.
The importance isn’t only about reducing milliseconds of latency. Having more routes can better distribute traffic and decrease dependence on specific physical points in the network.
Madrid on the other side of the Atlantic
Americas Connect also extends into Europe.
Canoa will connect the Dominican Republic with Bermuda and will integrate with Nuvem and Sol to form routes toward the U.S. and Europe.
Google explicitly mentions Madrid among the cloud regions that will benefit from this architecture.
This underscores a growing trend: the Iberian Peninsula is increasingly important as an entry and exit point for submarine cables connecting Europe, the Americas, and Africa.
For Spanish data centers, greater transatlantic diversity can be as crucial as increasing raw capacity.
Latency between points depends heavily on the distance the signal must travel. Therefore, not every new route automatically reduces latency; the benefit may also lie in more capacity, redundancy, and routing options.
This nuance is important because Google talks about enhancing reach, reliability, and resilience but has not published specific figures regarding total capacity, fiber pairs, investment, or expected latencies for the three new systems.
Hyperscalers building their own digital highways
Americas Connect is part of a broader shift in the Internet landscape.
Major cloud providers are less dependent on traditional telecom operators’ international networks. Companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon are directly involved in numerous submarine systems because their services generate a significant portion of global traffic.
For Google, this approach has additional logic.
With data centers, Google Cloud regions, YouTube, Search, Gemini, and a vast distributed infrastructure, owning more of the physical route between its facilities allows for integrated design of computing and communications.
AI further amplifies this need.
Large AI clusters involve enormous computational loads, but applications leveraging this infrastructure are distributed worldwide. Providers often need to move data between data centers, replicate information, ensure continuity, or distribute inference tasks across regions.
AI infrastructure thus extends beyond the data center itself.
After electrical power, GPUs, cooling, and internal high-speed networks, a new layer emerges: long-distance connectivity that links data centers and brings them closer to users.
Americas Connect embodies this physical transformation.
It’s not just a single cable crossing an ocean; it’s a network of new and existing infrastructures connecting the Pacific, Caribbean, Atlantic, North America, and Europe.
In this new map, Chile, Panama, and especially the Dominican Republic occupy positions that, years ago, would have been less obvious.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Google’s Americas Connect?
Americas Connect is a new connectivity architecture announced by Google that integrates the submarine cables Alisios, Canoa, and OlaLuz, a new branch of Firmina, and the systems Curie, Nuvem, and Sol.
Which countries will the Alisios cable connect?
Alisios will connect Chile, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. Its integration with other routes will extend connectivity toward the United States and other destinations in Google’s network.
What role will the Dominican Republic play?
The Dominican Republic will serve as a connection point for Alisios, Canoa, and OlaLuz, and will receive a new branch of Firmina, positioning it as a central hub within Americas Connect.
Will Americas Connect have connectivity to Spain?
Yes. Google states that Canoa will connect with Nuvem and Sol to provide routes to Europe, explicitly mentioning the Madrid Google Cloud region among the infrastructures connected by this architecture.
