According to DCD, Portuguese telecommunications operator Meo has announced plans to develop a new submarine cable landing station in Porto. CEO Ana Figueiredo revealed the strategy during the recent Atlantic Convergence conference in Lisbon, though specific details about the CLS weren’t shared. The company is simultaneously expanding its Carrier House interconnection center in Linda a Velha, which originally opened in 2023 with a €3 million investment covering 3,000 square meters. Porto currently has zero subsea cable connections, with all existing systems landing further south around Lisbon. Meo’s goal is to consolidate Portugal as an international connectivity hub and facilitate data transit between continents.
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Betting big on nothing
Here’s the thing that makes this announcement particularly interesting: Porto doesn’t have any submarine cables right now. Zero. Nada. All of Portugal’s existing international connectivity lands further south, mostly around Lisbon. So Meo is essentially building infrastructure for cables that haven’t even been announced yet.
That’s either incredibly forward-thinking or borderline speculative. Building a cable landing station without confirmed cable commitments is like constructing an airport without any airlines signed up. The economics only work if someone actually shows up to use it. And right now, there’s no public information about which cables might actually land in Porto.
Expansion everywhere
Meanwhile, Meo is also doubling down on its interconnection strategy with the Carrier House expansion. The original facility in Linda a Velha only opened in 2023 with that €3 million investment, and now they’re already looking to replicate that model in the north. That’s pretty rapid scaling for infrastructure that typically takes years to justify.
Basically, they’re betting that demand for connectivity will explode in northern Portugal. But will it? The region doesn’t have the same concentration of data centers and tech infrastructure that Lisbon enjoys. So who exactly is going to be interconnecting there?
Portugal’s Atlantic ambitions
This move fits into Portugal’s broader push to position itself as a transatlantic connectivity bridge. The country sits at a strategic point between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, making it theoretically ideal for cable landings. But theory and reality don’t always align.
Remember that €3 million Carrier House investment from 2023? That seemed ambitious then too. Now they’re talking about replicating that model while simultaneously building entirely new cable infrastructure. The capital requirements for both projects simultaneously must be substantial.
Execution risks ahead
The biggest question hanging over this announcement is timing. Building subsea cable infrastructure takes years, not months. Environmental approvals, marine surveys, community consultations – the list of potential delays is long. And without confirmed cable partners, the business case looks pretty speculative.
Plus, there’s the competitive landscape to consider. Other operators are expanding their Lisbon facilities, and northern Portugal represents uncharted territory. If Meo builds it, will the cables actually come? Or will this end up being expensive infrastructure waiting for demand that never materializes? Only time will tell if this bold northern push pays off.
