Latest news and stories about digital infrastructure in Portugal for expats and residents.
Google officially launched its new transatlantic submarine cable, Nuvem, which connects Myrtle Beach in the United States to Sines. The infrastructure aims to increase the resilience of digital communications across the North Atlantic and is expected to be fully operational by 2027.
The government has introduced the National Data Center Plan (Plano Nacional de Centros de Dados or PNDC) to position Portugal as a European hub for digital infrastructure. The strategy aims to simplify complex regulations and address fragmented oversight to attract more investment. While the sector welcomes the guidelines, industry experts warn that the success of the initiative depends on effective execution.
The National Data Centre Plan (Plano Nacional de Centros de Dados or PNDC) is a government strategy introduced in March 2024 to attract investment in digital infrastructure. It establishes guidelines for developing data centers to strengthen Portugal's position as a hub for technology and cloud services in Europe.
The proposed submarine power cable connecting Portugal and Morocco will proceed only if secured through private investment or European Union funding, according to the Portuguese Minister of Environment.
An analysis of the public or consumer costs associated with the funding and maintenance of data centres.
An analysis of Google's submarine cable infrastructure and its role in global connectivity following the company's strategic expansion into Portugal.
A technical vulnerability has caused widespread outages and exposed sensitive data across numerous Portuguese websites.
For over a decade, two hidden lines of code in the engine powering 70% of the Internet went unnoticed by human audits and automated tests. AI models, including OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol and Google's Gemini 4 Argon, independently identified these vulnerabilities—officially named 'php2shell' (CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619)—which allow remote code execution without authentication. The discovery triggered a global emergency response, with security agencies like the FBI, NSA, and CERT-EU issuing urgent warnings, forcing public services across Europe to temporarily go offline to patch their systems. This case highlights both the power of AI in cybersecurity and the daunting challenge of responding to such vulnerabilities at human scale.
Meo and Nokia announced this Monday a strengthened collaboration to accelerate autonomous and artificial intelligence-native networks through a joint innovation program. The initiative aims to integrate AI into the design, operation, monitoring, and optimisation of networks, making them smarter and more adaptive. The project will test real-world use cases to improve network efficiency, resilience, and responsiveness, aligning with Meo's long-term digital infrastructure strategy.
The party seeks a guarantee for the renewal of inter-island submarine cables in the Azores. “Azoreans need concrete answers” instead of “new studies or announcements,” says José Pacheco.
Home Business The Azores in the Center of the New Digital Atlantic The Azores in the Center of the New Digital Atlantic When we look at a map of Europe, the Azores seem far away. When we look at a map of the Atlantic, the opposite happens.
Portugal's geographical position and the arrival of new submarine links have established the country as a recipient of added value in international data routes. Telecommunications operators, subsea cables, and digital traffic exchange points agree with this assessment. However, this interdependence is still considered to be in its early stages. To retain value, the country requires data centres, energy, terrestrial networks, cloud infrastructure, computing power, and companies that exchange and process information locally. This evolution must also include artificial intelligence, which will increase the scale and urgency of this challenge.
Meo and Asteo have signed a partnership to enhance route diversity and network resilience across the Iberian Peninsula, combining their complementary infrastructure and wholesale capabilities. The agreement, announced at the Atlantic Convergence conference in Lisbon, aims to develop new cross-border connectivity solutions between Portugal and Spain, leveraging Asteo's 'Venus' long-haul infrastructure to support operators, hyperscalers, and AI-driven data centres.
An in-depth analysis of the environmental impact of artificial intelligence, covering the massive energy and water requirements of data centres, the carbon footprint of training and inference, geographical concentration of infrastructure, and the regulatory landscape in the EU compared to the US.
An analysis of the growth and impact of data centres in Portugal.
Airbus Defence and Space has begun development of the first satellites for IRIS 2, the European programme aimed at creating a sovereign constellation for resilient and secure digital communications, including for government and military users, as an alternative to the American Starlink. The company signed the initial contract for the design and construction of the first layer of satellites.
Submarine cables connecting the American continent to Europe pass through the Azores. The new centre in Faial and the new frigates will be essential. Editorial by Helena Pereira
The Schwarz group, owner of the Lidl and Kaufland supermarket chains, will invest 5.6 billion euros in the construction of a data centre near Rostock, in northern Germany, which will be powered by wind energy. The Schwarz group announced this Thursday that it plans to build a data centre with a capacity of 240 megawatts by 2033. “Digital sovereignty is not achieved through appeals or speeches. It is conquered with actions, reliable infrastructure, and practical applications,” said Schwarz group CEO Gerd Chrzanowski. The owner of Lidl and Kaufland is already building a data centre in Lübbenau, Brandenburg, near Berlin, to meet the company's own needs, a project that will receive an investment of 11 billion euros, the largest single investment in the company's history. The Schwarz group, which employs 600,000 people worldwide, is known for its Lidl and Kaufland supermarkets, but also owns an IT services division called Schwarz Digits, which offers cybersecurity and cloud services. Schwarz wants to position itself as a European alternative to technology consortia from other continents. Data centre capacity in Portugal rises by 23%, placing the country in the global top 10.
Portugal finds itself caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war between the US and China over Artificial Intelligence infrastructure. Having signed a US-led declaration on AI opportunity, the country faces pressure to choose sides, effectively forcing a binary choice between American and Chinese technological alliances. While the Portuguese government pursues a 'sovereign cloud' strategy and data centre hubs, the country remains heavily dependent on foreign infrastructure, highlighting a significant gap between political rhetoric and actual technological autonomy.
A giant infrastructure of data centres is required to process all the information generated, especially by AI.
The company plans to install three new submarine cables in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The links will be interconnected with existing routes that pass through the Azores and Sines.
Google announced this Tuesday, August 12, a digital infrastructure project called 'Americas Connect', which involves installing three new submarine cables in the Caribbean and the Pacific to strengthen connectivity between America, the Caribbean region, and Europe. The new infrastructure includes the 'Alisios' cable, connecting the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Chile; the 'Canoa' cable, linking the Dominican Republic to Bermuda; and the 'OlaLuz' cable, which will connect the Caribbean island to Florida in the southern United States. Additionally, Google will extend the 'Firmina' submarine cable to the Dominican Republic, expanding the reach of this infrastructure designed to connect North and South America. Existing submarine routes—'Curie', 'Nuvem', and 'Sol'—will be interconnected with the new paths to create redundant network rings towards the United States and Europe. In the Pacific, a submarine ring will create redundant routes linking Chile to Panama, along with a third connection between the Central American country and the US West Coast, providing connectivity to Google Cloud regions in Chile, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Through the Caribbean Sea, the 'Alisios' cable will run from Panama to the Dominican Republic, also connecting via a ring to the US East Coast and Google Cloud regions in South Carolina and Virginia. In the Atlantic, the 'Canoa' cable will be interconnected with the 'Nuvem' and 'Sol' cables via rings towards both the United States and Madrid, providing connectivity between Europe and America. This project aims to improve the reach, reliability, and resilience of connectivity by providing diversity in submarine cable routes.
“Americas Connect” is the name of the project that includes the Alisios, Canoa, and OlaLuz cables, creating redundant network rings between the Americas, Europe, and Google Cloud.
The new infrastructure consists of the 'Alisios', 'Canoa', and 'OlaLuz' cables.
Portugal is now included in the first sovereign cloud infrastructure map launched by Amazon Web Services.
Portugal is now included in the first sovereign cloud infrastructure map launched by Amazon Web Services.
