(BNAMERICAS.COM) SOROCABA, São Paulo, Brazil – Prysmian, a global supplier of cable solutions and a leader in energy transition and digital transformation, and Ufinet Brasil, a connectivity operator with a presence in 17 countries and more than 150 thousand km of installed fiber, announce a strategic partnership for the production and deployment of a 30 km underground network for the interconnection of hyperscale data centers in Alphaville, Barueri (SP).
The project represents a technological milestone for the Brazilian telecommunications market, as it uses a new product technology known as Prysmian’s Sirocco, a solution that, with each new generation, has been breaking records in densification and optimization in the use of underground infrastructure.
The best solution for increasingly congested networks
Expanding networks in the heart of major centers, such as São Paulo, is a major challenge for the implementation of fiber optic networks. To reduce the social impact of infrastructure works, the solution to increase network capacity and expand data transmission necessarily involves improving the use of the existing pipeline infrastructure.
In this scenario, SiroccoHD technology emerges, a milestone for the national industry, with a density of 8.6 F/mm², allowing the installation of 432 optical fibers in a single 12×10 mm microduct. This technology also makes it possible to reuse legacy 40 mm duct networks by subducting with up to 3 microducts of 12×10 mm, increasing the capacity of the existing infrastructure to up to 1,296 optical fibers.
To put this evolution into context: in the 1990s, a micro cable contained up to 72 fibers. Two decades later, the technology reached 288. SiroccoHD raised this number to 576 fibers per cable, a barrier that Prysmian itself has already surpassed globally with the new SiroccoEXTREME generations (up to 864 fibers) and SiroccoULTRA (up to 1,728 fibers), which should arrive in Brazil as demand for data and connectivity grows.
In this application, in partnership with Ufinet and Duraline, the 432-fiber version was implemented. The result is usage three times greater than that of conventional microcables available in Brazil, which normally accommodate up to 144 fibers in 12mm micro ducts. In addition to better use of space, another differentiator in the market is the 50-year service life, twice the usual in the domestic market.
This technology uses Prysmian’s BendBright-XSTM 200µm single-mode fiber, a bend-insensitive technology compatible with legacy fibers, ensuring reliability and high performance, and being the best option for the future of high–data-rate transmission technologies.
Sirocco is the best option for high-density underground network installations, contributing to FTTx, 5G, and cloud infrastructures, ensuring reductions in operating costs and environmental impact, with optimized use of raw materials.
This project demonstrates what Prysmian is capable of delivering by combining 150 years of R&D history with a high-level team dedicated to research and development in Brazil. SiroccoHD addresses a real problem for our customers in large urban centers: how to increase fiber capacity using the infrastructure I already have installed? That is why SiroccoHD is a technological milestone for Brazil, as we have managed to triple the density, raising the number of fibers per duct to a level that was considered impossible three years ago. This is the kind of solution that enables strategic hyperscale datacenter projects, positioning Brazil at a new level in the race for digital transformation and demonstrating the strength of our industry.
Ufinet’s mission is to bring high-quality connectivity where it is most needed, and projects like this one reflect precisely that commitment. Barueri and Santana de Parnaíba are the country’s most dynamic hubs for digital infrastructure, and connecting hyperscale data centers in this region requires partners and solutions that are up to the level of demand. The choice of SiroccoHD was strategic from an operational standpoint, in a market that demands ever-greater capacity and the best possible use of the existing network.
The project comes at a promising time. Brazil is seen as one of the main destinations for data center investments in the world, which should total around US$ 3 trillion over the next five years, according to a report by the rating agency Moody’s.
The progress is driven by the expansion of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the accelerated digitalization of the economy, which is complemented by Brazil’s distinctive advantage of having a predominantly renewable power mix.
In the regulatory plan, the Federal Government created Redata (Special Taxation Regime for Data Center Services), a package that brings together billion-scale tax incentives to boost new projects in the country, especially large-scale projects.
Tagged with data centers, Power Brief, Prysmian