Farice, SubCom partner on IRIS submarine cable to link Iceland to Ireland

April 6, 2021

The two companies say that the contract for supply and deployment of the undersea cable system is now in force, with a target ready for service date of the end of 2022.

Stephen Hardy

IRIS will supply route diversity for Farice as well as onward connectivity to the European mainland.

Submarine network technology and services company SubCom and wholesale connectivity services supplier Farice ehf have announced they will work together to deploy IRIS, a submarine cable that will link Iceland and Ireland. The two companies say that the contract for supply and deployment of the undersea cable system is now in force, with a target ready for service date of the end of 2022.

IRIS will be a six-fiber pair submarine cable with a total system capacity of 108 Tbps – or 18 Tbps per fiber pair. The undersea system will connect southwest of Iceland to Ballyloughane Strand in Galway, Ireland, a length of approximately 1700 km. The submarine network will link to another new system in Ireland to provide connectivity to the rest of Europe.

The submarine cable will be the third owned and operated by Farice, joining FARICE-1 and DANICE. It will enable the company, which is owned by the Icelandic government, with the ability to support route diversity. Farice says the desktop study for the project has been completed, as is marine survey work on Ireland’s continental shelf. The remaining survey works to Iceland are expected to finish this year. Meanwhile, SubCom will begin manufacture of the cable and equipment in Newington, NH, this year, with such work expected to continue through early 2022. This timetable will enable main lay installation operations to begin in Summer 2022.

“We are pleased to announce the contract in force for the IRIS undersea cable system, which we believe is an essential step for both the safety and security of Iceland. The system will also provide a new low-latency connection between Iceland and Dublin that will bring Iceland closer to one of the key network hubs in Europe. In essence, the system will be a digital bridge between Iceland and Ireland and could, as such, advance the use of green energy in Iceland for international digital processing needs,” commented Thorvardur Sveinsson, CEO of Farice. “Through our new IRIS system and existing DANICE system, a new North Atlantic Network route connecting Ireland, Iceland, and Denmark is open. Having worked in partnership with SubCom to deploy one of our existing cable systems, we are confident in their design, manufacturing, and installation capabilities and look forward to completing this highly impactful project.”

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.