Having conquered Lake Ontario, fiber network services provider Crosslake Fibre has set its sights on the English Channel. The company says it plans to build the 550-km CrossChannel Fibre submarine and terrestrial network that will connect Slough in the UK to Paris. The subsea portion will be the first fiber cable deployed across the English Channel in nearly 20 years, says the company.
The non-repeatered system will comprise 96 fiber pairs, each providing more than 20 Tbps of capacity. Crosslake Fibre expects the system to be ready for service in the fall of 2021. Marine survey work is underway, with EGS contracted to perform the marine and burial surveys for the project.
"We are excited to launch this historic subsea project and deliver a new, much-needed connection across the English Channel connecting the critically important data hubs of Slough and Paris,” commented Mike Cunningham, CEO for Crosslake Fibre. “This new fiber infrastructure has been optimized to create the shortest path between the two data hubs, providing users with an enhanced technical solution and materially lowering operating costs.
“With the continued increase in bandwidth demand further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, subsea cables have never been more critical to the functioning of the backbone of the Internet," Cunningham continued. "The marine survey is an essential milestone in the development of subsea projects. That is why key partners such as EGS are important, as they have the expertise and knowledge to ensure a successful survey of the route and ultimately pave the way for an optimal deployment of the cable."
CrossChannel Fibre will be CrossLake Fibre’s second major network project. The company earlier deployed a fiber-optic network between Toronto and New York that included an underwater segment across Lake Ontario (see “Crosslake Fibre fiber-optic network from Toronto to New York enters service”). Tiger Infrastructure Partners, which backed this initial project, will fund the second effort as well.
"Crosslake Fibre has demonstrated its expertise and ability to successfully develop and deploy infrastructure projects globally. With its CrossChannel Fibre project, the company is well-positioned to support the increasing capacity needs of high-growth regions in Europe," stated Emil Henry, CEO and managing partner of Tiger Infrastructure Partners. "We are excited to strengthen our long-term commitment to Crosslake Fibre and to support its future initiatives."
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