Geopolitical tensions challenge subsea cable projects, as governments prioritize security of critical infrastructure. Despite obstacles, the industry innovates with emerging technologies like multicore fiber to meet soaring connectivity demands.
Tamares Telecom partners with Grid Telecom to create ANDROMEDA, a subsea optical fiber cable system connecting Greece, Cyprus, and Israel, aiming to establish a new telecommunications corridor between Europe and the Middle East. This strategic alliance offers enhanced connectivity, network diversity, and low latency for wholesale customers across the region.
The SHEFA-2 underwater cable, which connects the Faroe Islands to Scotland’s mainland through the Shetland and Orkney Islands, suffered damage in two separate instances last week, rendering much of the island without Internet access. In separate events, three critical subsea cables linking Marseille to Lyon, Milan and Barcelona were deliberately severed in the south of France, according to the cable’s operator, affecting internet service for consumers in Europe, Asia and the United States. Cloud service providers worked quickly to repair the backbone infrastructure. According to a report by the cloud security company Zscaler, the unanticipated cable damage caused packet loss and increased latency for websites and apps transiting the damaged pathways. While the French authorities believe sabotage occurred, their Scottish colleagues are still unsure of what actually severed the wires. “We expect it will be fishing vessels that damaged the cable but it is very rare…
NEC Corporation, along with its subsidiary OCC Corporation and Sumitomo Electric Industries, has stated that they have conducted the first testing of an uncoupled 4-core underwater fiber cable and confirmed its transmission performance to fulfill the stringent requirements of global telecommunications networks. International data usage is anticipated to increase by 30-40% by 2026, owing to reasons such as the expansion of 5G mobile data and the necessity to exchange ever more content between data centers located around the world. Submarine networks are using space division multiplexing (SDM) technology to fulfill this need, which increases the number of separate spatial channels to maximize the overall capacity of the system, decrease energy usage and minimize the cost per bit transferred. Multicore fiber is projected to increase the number of parallel optical fiber cores without changing the size and structure of underwater cables, allowing the introduction of second generation of submarine SDM…
EllaLink Ireland Ltd (EllaLink) has announced the appointment of the former Sparkle CEO Alessandro Talotta, and Alberto Horcajo, who has held senior positions at Telefonica’s Telxius, to its Board of Directors. EllaLink is a subsea cable project being built with advanced coherent technology and will initially offer 72 Tbps of capacity over a four fiber-pair system, helping to remedy the congestion currently plaguing North Atlantic traffic. By linking data centers in Madrid, Lisbon, Marseille, Fortaleza and Sao Paulo, EllaLink is expected to provide express subsea connectivity and offer the world’s first direct fiber pair between Europe and Latin America. Michael Dedieu, Chairman of the EllaLink board and managing partner at Marguerite, an infrastructure investment fund that is backing the project, commented, “We are delighted to welcome Alessandro and Alberto as new independent directors to the EllaLink Board. Their skills will greatly complement the current board’s expertise through the on-going construction…
The American cable and Internet service provider Cable ONE has announced the launch of its Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trunk service for business customers. This new service is a valuable addition to the already wide Cable ONE Business voice product portfolio that includes cloud-based hosted Voice, PRI trunks and business phone offerings. “In today’s fast paced, competitive environment, businesses need access to a variety of solutions to meet their voice technology needs,” commented Chris Boone, the Vice President of Business Services for Cable ONE. “We’re excited to add Cable ONE Business SIP Trunks to our portfolio of business voice services.” This new service provides business customers with the perfect opportunity to upgrade from TDM-based services, and add more scalability and flexibility to their PBX systems. The Cable ONE Business SIP Trunk service connects the customer’s onsite PBX to the provider’s nationwide fiber optic network, ensuring the affordable use…
CommScope and Emtelle have teamed up to optimize FTTH deployments in North America, integrating CommScope’s Prodigy connectivity and Emtelle’s blowable fiber optic micro-cable. This collaboration promises enhanced network installations with improved cost efficiency and high-quality network performance.
Charter plans to acquire Cox for $34.5 billion, forming the largest cable and broadband provider in the United States. The merger aims to enhance innovation, improve customer service, and strengthen competition amid a shifting market. Leadership will combine executives from both companies, with operations based in Stamford, Connecticut.
Taara has teamed up with Digicomm International to accelerate deployment of its Lightbridge technology, which delivers fiber-grade internet through the air. With speeds up to 20 Gbps over long distances, this solution targets hard-to-wire areas, enhancing digital access for communities and businesses while expanding Taara’s reach.
Sparkle and Orchest Technologies have partnered to expand network coverage and automate service delivery across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe. By integrating global infrastructures and leveraging MEF standards, they aim to deliver scalable, on demand connectivity and elevate customer experience.
