Survey work begins on Emerald Express transatlantic submarine network

Undersea fiber-optic network provider Emerald Networks and TE SubCom say they have begun the survey of USA and Ireland territorial waters for the new Emerald Express Trans-Atlantic Cable System. The submarine network will provide low-latency, ultra-high bandwidth capacity between New York, Dublin, and London via 100 wavelengths of 100 Gbps on each of its four fiber pairs.

That brings the total design capacity for the Emerald Express undersea cable system to 40 Tbps. The system’s final splice is estimated to be completed by the end of 2014. The network will link Shirley, NY, to the West Coast of Ireland with a branch connection to Grindavik, Iceland. A future branch will connect to Southern Europe.

CenturyLink has already signed a deal for capacity on the network (see “Emerald Networks signs transatlantic capacity agreement with CenturyLink”).

"Having TE SubCom successfully complete this survey represents an important milestone for our construction,” Dr. William C. Marra, CEO, Emerald Networks, stated. “This information is needed so that SubCom can start manufacturing our cable over the winter months. This puts us one step closer to on-time delivery of our pre-sales contracts and our goal to offer the industry leading 100x100 Gbps undersea transatlantic network. We are pleased to be working with TE SubCom and look forward to a long-term relationship with the world leader in fiber connectivity."

"It is an honor for TE SubCom to be chosen by Emerald Networks, who has asked for the most technically advanced solution our firm can offer," said Michael Rieger, vice president, Global Sales, TE SubCom. "The industry-shifting commitment to new transatlantic bandwidth is on the fast track and SubCom is looking forward to working with the Emerald Networks team, where we have worked before, to deliver this unique IT infrastructure project."

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