Infrastructure Inside the €1bn subsea cable plan linking Galway to Asia as global warming opens new sea routes
Ireland is already a key player in the internet cable superhighway running from the United States to Europe, and the Far North Fiber project is about to put the country at the centre of a pioneering new route to Asia, through one of the most hostile territories on earth. Due to the extent of sea ice, there is no direct route through the centre of the Arctic Circle, so the ambition of Far North Fiber is to take advantage of newly opening sea corridors, where global warming is causing a dramatic retreat of ice during the summer months.
The project was conceived in 2018 by Far North Digital, a US company co-founded by engineer Ik Icard. Just last week, key cables in the Red Sea were severed, disrupting 25 per cent of data traffic between Europe and Asia. The consortium of companies that now make up Far North Fiber are Far North Digital, Cinia, Arteria, the Japanese networks company, and Alcatel Submarine Networks, a Nokia company.
According to Smyth, the project could make Galway a more attractive location for data centres, while bolstering the local economy. The chosen route will allow for greater security, as it travels mostly through friendly western waters. The closest it will get to the more politically volatile Russian coastline will be when it reaches Alaska.“It's the only direct corridor for us in a strictly marine route.