Tuesday, December 14, 2021 | 4.4°C Dublin

Technology companies rely on global fiber optic networks to operate data centers. Photo: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

The government has granted a front-shore permit to complete a multi-million-euro fiber optic cable between Ireland and the United Kingdom, which is part of a 940-kilometer system connecting the two countries with Denmark.

The cable was built by a company under Digital 9 Infrastructure, an investment trust listed on the British stock market, which is in turn controlled by the British investment group Triple Point.

The project has been in development for many years and was originally developed by Aqua Comms, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Fiber optic cable is also known as the Havhingsten project.

The installation of the cable will begin in Irish territorial waters on Monday, just after obtaining a foreshore permit late last week. Part of the cable has been laid outside the territorial waters in order to obtain a foreshore permit. 

This year, Digital 9 acquired Aqua Comms for $215 million without debt.

The cable will extend from Loughshinny in the north of Dublin to Blackpool on the west coast of England.

  The two Spurs will also land on the Isle of Man.

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Another part of the Havhingsten project will extend from the north of Newcastle, England to Havhingsten on the west coast of Jutland, Denmark.

Aqua Comms provides services for data centers, content providers, and cloud-based networks. It already runs a fiber optic cable called AEC-1. This 5,536-kilometer cable has a landing site at Kilara, Co Mayo and Long Island.

Ireland is home to major data center operations of companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. They rely on a global fiber optic network to operate these data centers. Financial markets and institutions also use this type of cable to conduct business transactions on a global scale.

"The Havhingsten project is in line with the European 2020 strategy and the European Digital Agenda (lower prices for electronic communications, better Internet connectivity for all, and better protection of telecommunications consumers)," Aqua Comms previously pointed out in the optical fiber planning document. Optical cable. 

It added that the cable will be part of a "resilient dual-path network" between Dublin and the United Kingdom, Denmark and the United States, supplementing the existing Aqua Comms infrastructure. 

"The project will provide'operator neutral' access to northwestern Europe and related networks, allowing interconnection between multiple telecom operators and suppliers, and providing competitive services for the telecom industry," it Say.

The company pointed out: "The Havhingsten project will support the needs of network-scale providers that support today's international cloud industry."

"This route will provide connections for global operators, cloud-based networks, data centers, information technology companies, Internet service providers and global media," it added in its front-shore license application.

It said the cable will provide a fast and reliable Internet connection and will promote "innovation, economic growth and progress."

The service life of the cable is estimated to be 25 years. 

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