Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei will lay a 250-kilometer-long underwater fiber optic cable across the Gulf of California between La Paz, Baja California Sur, and Topolobampo, Sinaloa.

The US $14-million project, a joint venture with the Mexican company Megacable, is designed to make telecommunications services cheaper, faster and more reliable in Baja California Sur.

Megacable received government authorization to complete the project last year and at a signing ceremony in July, then communications and transportation secretary Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said the government would provide the company with technical support.

At the time, it was anticipated that installation of the cable would be completed this month but it is now unclear when the project will be completed.

Huawei said in a statement in August that that work was under way on a marine survey for the project and that the system is planned for delivery in the second quarter of 2019, but with installation expected to take six months that appears unlikely.

The company’s communications director in Mexico, Juan Carlos Zamora, didn’t shed any light on the expected commencement or completion dates, telling the newspaper El Sol de México that he had no knowledge of the project.

The delay in starting it could be related to the design and construction of the cable system.

Huawei said in its August statement that “the terrain and environment in the gulf and peninsula region is complex and places high requirements on the design and construction of the submarine cable.”

However, the company added that “Huawei Marine’s rich experience in working on difficult projects around the world will ensure the Topolobampo-La Paz project will be completed smoothly.”

When that will be, however, is not yet known.

Source: El Sol de México (sp)