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The transatlantic submarine cable Nuvem, financed and controlled by Google, is approaching full service. It principally joins the eastern seaboard of the United States to the European mainland, calling at Bermuda and the Azores along the way. The system runs to 6,900 kilometres.
Google established the initial connection at its American landing point in May 2026. The cable reached Portugal in July, and full operation follows during the second half of the year.
A Design Capacity of 384 Terabits
Nuvem means cloud in Portuguese. The American marine systems supplier SubCom built and laid the cable, while Google finances and controls it through a subsidiary.
The system carries sixteen fibre pairs. Each pair is rated at 24 Tbps, yielding a total design capacity of 384 Tbps, or roughly 48 terabytes every second.
The Route Itself
Nuvem departs from Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. It then calls at Bermuda in the mid-Atlantic and at São Miguel in the Azores, before making landfall at Sines on the western coast of Portugal.
For Bermuda, this represents a considerable milestone. No submarine cable had previously routed through the island. Bermuda now hopes to build upon Nuvem and establish itself as a mid-Atlantic transit hub.
Why Google Is Laying Its Own Cables
Large technology companies, and cloud providers above all, have been building submarine cables at a striking pace in recent years.
These systems deliver two benefits at once. They offer greater carrying capacity, and they serve as redundant paths for other routes. When a primary link falters, operators can swiftly reroute traffic onto a healthy one and avoid interrupting service.
Overlapping Routes Create Resilience
Nuvem illustrates the principle neatly. Google had already invested in a cable linking Portugal with West Africa back in 2023, and that system overlaps with the new one.
Consequently, should either cable fail, Google can shift traffic to the other. For Google Cloud, this substantially improves the redundancy of intercontinental and transoceanic data transfer.
The Artificial Intelligence Factor
Google’s haste in commissioning subsea infrastructure may also owe something to artificial intelligence. Training and running models demands the movement of colossal volumes of data between regions.
The surge in demand from AI data centres has therefore driven hyperscale operators to compete for bandwidth they can genuinely control.
Cost offers a further motive. Leasing fibre leaves a company subject to carrier pricing. Owning and operating a cable outright carries clear long-term advantages instead.
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