AquaComms and Equinix to Build First Underwater Transatlantic Cable for Data in 15 Years
Equinix is teaming up with AquaComms to build one of the first transatlantic fiber optic cables for data in over a decade. While transatlantic fiber optic cables have been laid in the past, these cables may have been primarily used for private transactions such as cabling for international brokerage firms. AquaComms and Equinix says that this new fiber optic cabling network will allow businesses to experience faster ping times between New York and London.
The project is scheduled to begin before the end of 2015 and the project will start near Long Island, NY and terminate near the West Coast of Ireland. Equinix, one of the largest carrier neutral data centers in the world, says that its New York facility and its London UK datacenter will serve as access points for businesses wanting to take advantage of the new low latency underground cabling. The new project between Equinix and AquaComms is expect to create new business opportunities for international organizations.
“Responding to the demand AquaComms is seeing for high capacity, high reliability connectivity between North America and Europe, we made a strategic decision to deploy with Equinix. Their data centers in New York and London act as major international hubs for network traffic, offering our customers the ability to extend existing networks or expand into new markets,” says Greg Varisco, CEO of AquaComms.
Part of the reason that high speed, low latency connections are needed between London and New York is that these two cities control much of the total internet traffic of the world. When you send a request in your browser, it’s likely that your request will go through one of these cities. The new undersea cabling is said to support up to 52 Tbps and the 100g compliant system utilizes the latest in fiber optics technologies.
