Farice and Far North Digital (FND) have signed a memorandum of understanding on a joint marketing and sales agreement to establish fibre optic connectivity between Japan and Iceland through two cables.
Farice’s new IRIS submarine cable will provide connectivity between Iceland and Ireland, while FND’s new Arctic cable will span between Japan and Ireland. Farice’s cable project has been in development since 2019, and is planned to be operationally ready by early 2023.
Both companies will develop a connectivity exchange at a shared landing site in Galway, Ireland. Through this joint agreement, customers will be able to buy direct connectivity between Japan and Iceland.
This development is significant because there will be minimised latency for cable communications between Japan, the third largest economy in the world, and Iceland, which has 100% green and sustainable electricity.
This ambitious undersea fibre cable project will be the first Arctic cable route connecting Asia and Europe through the Northwest Passage, significantly reducing the optical distance between Asia and Europe, enabling customers to have access to low latency cable connection.
Faster and More Secure Connectivity
Fully owned by the Icelandic Government, Farice is the owner and operator of two submarine fibre systems connecting Iceland to Europe which provide international wholesale connectivity services to telecom operators in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Ireland. The IRIS system will be Farice’s third submarine between Iceland and Europe.
In a press release statement, Farice noted that it had selected the landing in Ireland for two reasons, the first being that Dublin was one of Europe’s key network hubs, and the second being that Galway was relatively close to Iceland.
Thorvardur Sveinsson, CEO of Farice, expressed his support for the project, saying that “we are very excited about the development of the new Arctic fibre cable that will bring the continents of Asia, Northern America and Europe closer together. The landing of the cable in Galway next to our IRIS cable will drive the development of a new submarine network exchange, connecting Iceland to Asia, North America and Northern Scandinavia.”
FND Chief Technical Officer Guy Houser affirmed his confidence in the project, saying that “Farice is a terrific partner, and Iceland has the renewable resources to make the Internet greener. Our combined system offers faster and more secure connectivity for the world and the North. It is critical infrastructure in the information age.”
“Connectivity & Innovation” is a sub-category under the awards category “Outstanding Data Center Projects” for this year’s W.Media Asia-Pacific Cloud & Datacenter Awards. Thinking of nominating or sponsoring? Visit our Awards Page for more information. Nominations are open until 31st July.
