 |
 |
||
|
|
||
Crosslake Fibre gets set to dive into English ChannelThe English Channel is to see its first fiber-optic subsea cable in almost two decades, courtesy of Crosslake Fibre. Dubbed CrossChannel Fibre, the subsea network will span 550km to connect Slough, UK, and Paris. In a press release, Crosslake Fibre said it will "contain 96 fibre pairs, each providing over 20 terabits per second of capacity throughput." Crosslake Fibre is an international network provider and developer of subsea and terrestrial fiber networks. Established in 2017, Crosslake's first deployment was its Lake Ontario project, to construct a subsea cable connecting Toronto to Secaucus, New Jersey, and Buffalo, New York. That network went live in October 2019, offering lit and dark fiber services, and utilizing a 58km submarine cable installed by IT International Telecom Canada.
Both the Lake Ontario project and CrossChannel Fibre are backed by funding from Tiger Infrastructure Partners, a NYC-based private equity firm that invests in growing infrastructure platforms.
EGS marine survey vessel
EGS, a large global provider of cartography and marine services, will carry out maritime and landfill surveys for the CrossChannel Fibre project.
(Source: Crosslake Fibre) Crosslake Fibre isn't alone in going under the sea for fiber builds: Indeed, according to research by Mordor Intelligence, the Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Market was valued at $12.68 billion in 2019, at a CAGR of over 13.51% during the forecast period (2020-2025). Another massive build announced this year is 2Africa (formerly "Simba"), planned to be one of the largest subsea projects in the world. In partnership with a global group that includes China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC, Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) will build a 37,000km long subsea cable to serve the African continent and Middle East region. With cable laying to start in 2021 and an anticipated launch by 2024, 2Africa will interconnect Europe (eastward via Egypt), the Middle East (via Saudi Arabia) and 21 landings in 16 African countries. It will reportedly have a design capacity of up to 180 Tbit/s. Crosslake Fibre, meanwhile, has tapped EGS to commence its maritime survey for its latest project which is expected to be ready for service in the fall of 2021. — Nicole Ferraro, contributing editor, Light Reading |
Latest Articles
Here's where you can find episode links for 'The Divide,' Light Reading's podcast series featuring conversations with broadband providers and policymakers working to close the digital divide.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will present our Cable Next-Gen Europe conference as a free digital symposium on June 21.
Charter has sparked RDOF work in all 24 states where it won bids. The cable op booked about $19 million in RDOF revenues in Q1, and expects to have about $9 million per month come in over the next ten years.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will stage the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half-days in mid-March.
Launch of 2-Gig and 5-Gig FTTP tiers in 70-plus markets puts more pressure on cable ops to enhance their existing DOCSIS 3.1 network or accelerate their upgrade activity centered on the new DOCSIS 4.0 specs.
|
|
|
||
