Crosslake Fibre says it will turn to Hexatronic Cables & Interconnect Systems AB for the high-fiber-count submarine cable it needs for the upcoming CrossChannel submarine network. CrossChannel, as its name implies, will connect the UK and France across the English Channel.
The 150-km submarine cable will be part of a fiber network will connect Slough, UK, with Paris to supply dark fiber connectivity (see "Crosslake Fibre to aim CrossChannel Fibre system across English Channel"). It has been designed to provide physical diversity and low latency, with fewer amplification points to enable capital and operational benefits. With the marine survey concluded earlier this year, the CrossChannel submarine cable is expected to be ready for service by the fourth quarter of 2021. Tiger Infrastructure Partners will supply funds for the project.
"We are excited to deliver new, much-needed connectivity across the English Channel as part of this historic project to connect the critically important data hubs of Slough, UK, and Paris, France," stated Mike Cunningham, CEO of Crosslake Fibre. "Hexatronic's double-armored, 96-pair cable provides us with an optimal solution for a high-performance cable.
"This new fiber infrastructure has been optimized to create the shortest path between the two data center 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 added.
"We are very pleased to support Crosslake Fibre, a repeat customer, in its innovative build across the English Channel," said Henrik Larsson Lyon, Hexatronic Group CEO. "Hexatronic has a broad submarine cable offering and this agreement with Crosslake further demonstrates our capabilities to provide cost-efficient, market leading solutions."
This is Crosslake Fibre's second major fiber network project, following a system in North America that included a span across Lake Ontario. Hexatronic supplied submarine fiber for that project as well (see "Hexatronic Group AB to supply fiber submarine cable for Crosslake Fibre's Lake Ontario network").