IAC completes €23 million fibre‑optic network linking Canary Islands observatories

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has finished the “Redundancy of Optical Maritime and Terrestrial Network RedIRIS Tenerife‑La Palma” project. Funded with more than €23 million from the EU’s NextGenerationEU recovery plan, the new infrastructure adds a submarine fibre segment costing €16.8 million that directly connects the Teide Observatory on Tenerife with the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, and extends to the mainland via high‑speed links.

A complementary terrestrial upgrade, worth €5.8 million, installs two dark‑fibre lines linking the La Palma Astrophysics Centre with the Roque de los Muchachos site and the IAC headquarters in La Laguna with the Teide Observatory. The network guarantees a minimum transmission capacity of 1.5 Tbps for the next 25 years, virtually eliminating data‑loss risk from technical faults or environmental incidents. Beyond supporting the advanced telescopes of the Canary Islands, the system provides more reliable connectivity for local public administrations, improves emergency‑management capabilities in national parks, and underpins initiatives in digital tourism and astrotourism.