This is one of the main conclusions of a study commissioned by DE-CIX, the world's leading Internet Exchange (IX) operator, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of its presence in Portugal, as the company said in its own statement in the second half of July.

The study analyzed the main factors that point to Portugal as this HUB recognized as a global interconnection center. This is due to the investments allocated to infrastructure, our geography and the global submarine cables that tie up on our coast mostly in Sines. Thus, Portugal asserts itself as an excellent viable alternative to FLAPS (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Stockholm), the historical sites of interconnection in Europe.

The Study, "A Global Interconnection Hub, a Gateway to Europe, a Gateway to the World". In this same study, the position of Lisbon in relation to London and Frankfurt is highlighted as the only one of the three that offers direct connections by submarine cables across the Atlantic to South America, and soon direct connections to the East Coast of the USA.

The point that distinguishes Portugal even more from other countries is that the four main international cable mooring stations and the three main Internet Exchange of Portugal in Lisbon are all within a radius of only 100 kilometers, creating a uniquely concentrated and interconnected network infrastructure, something that is not repeated in other countries.

The study also concludes that not only have the prices of IP transit connectivity from Portugal fallen, but also lower than in other countries, thus providing Portugal with a competitive position in the European market. The thriving ecosystem of submarine and terrestrial cables, as well as a strong investment in data centers and a doubling of the number of Internet Exchanges from 2016 to 2024 are prominent factors for the positioning of Portugal, which currently connects regions of the world to Europe and beyond.

At the beginning of this year, Portugal had 33 data centers, of which 20 are near Lisbon. But in Covilhã, for those who have already forgotten, Portugal has one of the largest data centers in the world, and another one powered entirely by green energy is planned as part of the project in Sines. What will be the largest data center powered by green energy in Europe.

It is also important to note that this study reveals the remarkable progress that Portugal has made in the development of its digital infrastructure and in boosting various sectors that depend on it, such as the digitalization of companies and society.

Between 1 and 3 October, Lisbon will host the first Atlantic Convergence conference, an initiative of DE-CIX, in partnership with Atlas Edge, the leading European provider of Edge platforms with data centres in 12 countries, EllaLink, a submarine cable that connects Europe, Africa and South America, and Interfiber Networks, which offers fiber solutions, IP transit and aggregation for Internet connectivity in Africa.

I invite everyone to be increasingly attentive to what Portugal offers in this economic field and to highlight every day that Portugal in digitalization appears at the forefront of European countries and not at their tail, this is good news for all of us.

Author

Paulo Lopes is a multi-talent Portuguese citizen who made his Master of Economics in Switzerland and studied law at Lusófona in Lisbon - CEO of Casaiberia in Lisbon and Algarve.

Paulo Lopes