Last week welcomed a landmark in the history of Irish communications as Galway and the West becomes a key destination for Europe’s internet connectivity infrastructure. Find out more here...
This landmark marks the first time that a subsea cable has connected to Ireland that is not linked to the UK or North America. Farice, a company fully owned by the Icelandic Government and which currently owns and operates two submarine cables linking Iceland to Northern Europe, announced this week that the IRIS Sub-Sea Telecoms Cable System connecting Galway to Iceland and onwards to Denmark and the Nordics, on existing Farice networks is now in its final phase of implementation. The IRIS system will be ready for service in the first quarter of 2023 and will be the third submarine fibre optic cable system connecting Iceland with Europe.
To officially launch the connectivity infrastructure landmark, Galway welcomed Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan; Minister of State, Ossian Smyth; Icelandic Ambassador; Farice and Subcom.
In 2019 The West coast of Ireland and Galway was designated as a landing location for international telecommunications cables with Increased availability of terrestrial networks across the country enabling this. This modern high-capacity telecom cable will connect Galway to Iceland, the presence of the Farice system landing in Galway will provide direct high-capacity links to Iceland but also to Northern Europe via Denmark and will greatly increase capacity and connectivity in the Galway region.
Farice signed a contract with SubCom, LLC, a global undersea fiber optic cable system supply company, to install the IRIS Cable System and SubCom has now received provisional acceptance for the IRIS Cable System, the final phase before officially handing the system over to its owner, Farice.
The IRIS system will be ready for service in the first quarter of 2023 and will be the third submarine fibre optic cable system connecting Iceland with Europe. The system provides further redundancy in telecommunication connection between Iceland and Europe, with low latency connections around 10.5 ms, between Reykjavík and Dublin. The IRIS system is integrated into Farice’s network in Iceland and Europe to enhance the network and provide comprehensive, diverse, and secure connectivity between Farice’s network POPs in Iceland and Europe.
Eamon Ryan, Minister for the Environment, Transport, Climate and Communications said; "The development of new digital infrastructure is essential for job creation and new business opportunities. Ireland is at the forefront of this digital development and is pursuing a strategy to be a gateway to Europe for all internet traffic. The IRIS subsea cable is a remarkable project which ensures we now have direct links from Ireland to Iceland and further diversifies the connectivity links across Ireland. This has extensive positive implications for Galway and the West, potentially opening up the entire region for new investment. And it highlights the West as a key destination for Europe’s internet connectivity infrastructure which is likely to attract future investments."
Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir, Minister of Universities, Industry and Innovation said in her message to Galway; "IRIS, a new submarine cable connecting Iceland and Ireland, is a major milestone in strengthening and securing Iceland‘s electronic communications with Ireland and other countries. Together with Iceland‘s green and renewable energy sources this new submarine cable makes Iceland a highly competitive option for data centers, cloud service providers and high performance computing. Connecting Iceland and Ireland brings on new opportunities for both countries for co-operation in the highly connected digital world.“
In his address, the Icelandic ambassador Sturla Sigurjónsson said that from the point of view of internet telecommunications, IRIS brings Iceland closer to Ireland. "We are two neighboring islands that share values and interests that are reflected in the history and culture of the nations. Recently, both countries have achieved very high levels of digitization and internet connectivity, including hosting data centers. IRIS shows that we can do things even faster and more efficiently and safely. The fourth industrial revolution has already begun, and the connectivity offered by IRIS improves our ability to embrace and leverage these fundamental changes even better."
Galway was identified as a landing site in Europe with suitable seabed approaches; the location had the ability to land a cable in the heart of the city therefore greatly enhanced the attractiveness of Galway as a landing site and as a potential hub of global connectivity. Explaining why Galway was chosen, CEO of Farice, Thorvardur Sveinsson commented; "After careful consideration of many factors, Galway was selected by Farice as the European cable landing location. The suitable seabed conditions and strong local infrastructure was a key decision factor for us when selecting Galway as the landing site of our IRIS system. This coupled with Galway’s reputation for business, education and hospitality will lead to a win win situation. The enhanced global activity provided by the system will be a catalyst for attracting high tech business to the city and the regions."
For more information on Farice log onto http://www.farice.is/.
Photos by Andrew Downes / Xposure
