In less than a month, Cirion Technologies executed one of the most complex subsea infrastructure recovery operations in Latin America.
Tomorrow marks exactly one month since the June 24 earthquake changed the lives of millions of Venezuelans. Today, 29 days later, Venezuela’s hospitals, businesses and families are back connected.
A world-class infrastructure
For 20 years, Cirion Technologies’ subsea cable operated at an uptime of more than 99.999% — the highest standard in telecommunications. At the time of the earthquake, the cable was fully compliant with its original design specifications.
According to ICPC data¹, 86% of subsea cable breaks in the world are caused by fishing nets and ship anchors. Geological events — earthquakes, subsea landslides — account for between 7% and 14%².
On this occasion, the subsea cable that enters Venezuela was affected by the displacement of the terrain caused by the earthquakes of June 24, 2026.
Preparation and excellence in execution
The recovery of the subsea cable was much more than an engineering operation. It was a race against time that mobilized specialists, technical teams and international capabilities with the same purpose: to restore Venezuela’s international connectivity.
In less than 48 hours, local Cirion teams re-established the Caracas connectivity ring with the support of international partners. Hospitals, banks and food services regained connection within hours. International alternative routes kept more than 60% of customers operational from the first days.
Cirion is a member of ACMA, the international cooperative for the maintenance and repair of subsea cables. There are fewer than 50 specialized cable ships in the world to repair the entire global subsea infrastructure³ — and demand is growing while the fleet is not growing. That membership guaranteed Cirion priority access to the Wave Sentinel and allowed it to be mobilized in record time to Venezuela.
The 15 required government authorizations — which under normal conditions take more than 45 days — were obtained in 14, thanks to the joint work with CONATEL and the Venezuelan authorities.
The result: 29 days from the earthquake to full reconnection. An operation that in other countries has taken from five weeks to several months.
A recovery made possible by working together
Cirion expresses special gratitude to CONATEL and the Venezuelan authorities for the support provided throughout the contingency and for the speed with which they made possible the development of an operation of this complexity.
The permanent coordination between the authorities, our technical teams and the specialized crew of the Wave Sentinel allowed us to meet the planned schedule and return international connectivity to the country under the highest technical and operational standards.
People made it possible
The best technology in the world, without great people, doesn’t work, especially in situations of Crisis.
Behind every technical decision, every test passed and every milestone communicated, there were teams that never stopped – engineers, operators, NOC specialists, the crew of the Wave Sentinel, and Cirion’s collaborators in Venezuela and throughout the region. They are no exception. They are the example of what this company stands for, and all of them mean, we are immensely grateful to them all.
A commitment that continues
Cirion Technologies operates one of the most extensive digital infrastructure networks in Latin America, with more than 105,000 kilometers of fiber optics, 18 landing stations and 6 international subsea cable systems connecting 17 countries. This infrastructure is part of the global Internet connectivity ecosystem and, in Latin America, integrates the regional network inherited from Level 3, today Lumen (AS3356), one of the main Autonomous Systems and Tier-1 backbones in the world.
Thanks to this architecture, Cirion interconnects the region with thousands of Autonomous Systems, cloud providers, content platforms and international operators, guaranteeing high levels of resilience, capacity and availability.
This experience reaffirms Cirion’s commitment to continue strengthening a resilient, secure and highly available digital infrastructure for Latin America.
“We are especially proud of our extraordinary Venezuelan team, whose dedication and resilience represent the best of Cirion. Despite facing personal loss, hardship, and moments of deep grief, they never wavered from their commitment to restoring essential communications to millions of people. His bravery, professionalism and sense of duty were truly heroic and will never be forgotten.” Paul Choiseul – CTIO Chief Technology and Information Officer
Cirion Technologies
Sources
¹ ICPC — International Cable Protection Committee. Submarine Cable Incident Statistics 2010-2024.
² ICPC / UltramapGlobal. Breakdown of causes of rupture: geological and natural events account for between 7% and 14% of total incidents.
³ Industry estimate based on the record of globally active specialized cable vessels.
About Cirion Technologies
Cirion Technologies is a leading provider of digital infrastructure and technology solutions in Latin America. The company operates one of the region’s most comprehensive digital infrastructure platforms, integrating an extensive terrestrial and subsea fiber-optic network, carrier-neutral interconnection services, cloud connectivity, colocation services, and advanced digital solutions. These capabilities enable enterprises, service providers, and hyperscalers to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives across the region.
Press Contact and request for additional photo records
Marcelo Pineda Arango
Global Head of Marketing, Brand & Communications
marcelo.pineda@ciriontechnologies.com
Additional context of the global subsea cable sector:
To understand the challenge of repairing critical subsea infrastructure, we share some recent industry data backed by the ICPC (International Cable Protection Committee) and industry analysts:
- The global network grew by 50%, but ships are scarce: Today there are more than 400 cable systems in operation (about 2.7 million kilometers installed). However, there are only between 60 and 62 cable ships worldwide designed to be installed and repaired. sdxcentral
- Operational capacity at the limit: Much of this global fleet (more than 19 ships) is over 30 years old, and almost no new ships were built between 2004 and 2010. This has created an international “bottleneck” that often delays emergency response times. sdxcentral
- Ruptures are constant globally: The ICPC reports a stable average of approximately 200 ruptures per year worldwide (almost 4 failures per week). The network is now more resilient thanks to better armour, but it is exposed to much greater maritime traffic.
- Main causes of damage: Despite popular belief, 86% of the ruptures are of accidental human origin, generated by commercial trawling nets and boat anchors dragged along the seabed. Geophysical faults (earthquakes and displacements of the seabed) and natural wear occupy second place.
Additional Sources:
- Submarine Cable Networks / SubOptic 2024: “The Future of Submarine Cable Maintenance”. submarinenetworks
- TeleGeography: Recent Reports on Critical Infrastructure and Delays in Optical Laying Projects.
- ICPC (International Cable Protection Committee): Global consolidated annual data on incidents in subsea telecommunications systems. submarinenetworks
- International Telecommunication Union (ITU): Report of the International Advisory Body for Subsea Cable Resilience.itu+1
- ICPC / Global Cable Repair Data Analysis 2024-2025: Presented by Meta and the ICPC, which documents that anchors (14%), trawling (28%) and other unspecified fishing incidents (44%) account for 86% of failures. Geophysical faults represent 7% and plant/equipment failures only 3%.