EllaLink Ireland Ltd (EllaLink) has announced the appointment of the former Sparkle CEO Alessandro Talotta, and Alberto Horcajo, who has held senior positions at Telefonica’s Telxius, to its Board of Directors. EllaLink is a subsea cable project being built with advanced coherent technology and will initially offer 72 Tbps of capacity over a four fiber-pair system, helping to remedy the congestion currently plaguing North Atlantic traffic. By linking data centers in Madrid, Lisbon, Marseille, Fortaleza and Sao Paulo, EllaLink is expected to provide express subsea connectivity and offer the world’s first direct fiber pair between Europe and Latin America.
Michael Dedieu, Chairman of the EllaLink board and managing partner at Marguerite, an infrastructure investment fund that is backing the project, commented, “We are delighted to welcome Alessandro and Alberto as new independent directors to the EllaLink Board. Their skills will greatly complement the current board’s expertise through the on-going construction phase of the project.”
Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) is managing the construction of the subsea cable that will connect Sines in southern Portugal with Fortaleza in Brazil, via the islands of Madeira and Cabo Verde. Furthermore, the company is also supporting allied cables, CariLink, running from Cartagena in Colombia to Kourou in French Guiana, and GuyaLink, connecting Kourou to Fortaleza. EllaLink will have a branch office in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Philippe Dumont, the former ASN CEO and currently CEO of the EllaLink, said, “It is a real privilege for the EllaLink management team to welcome Alberto and Alessandro. We are looking forward to the value their knowledge brings and their industry insight which will be a great benefit to the EllaLink cable system, its customers and its shareholders.”
The EllaLink announcement also points out that both Alberto and Alessandro have more than 20 years of experience in leading telecommunications companies with relevant expertise in submarine cable systems. Their appointment will take effect on July 1, 2019.
