Crosslake Fibre, an international network provider and developer of unique subsea and terrestrial fibre networks, announces today its newest subsea cable project, CrossChannel Fibre.
The next-generation 550km cable is the first fibre-optic subsea cable to be built across the English Channel in nearly twenty years and will connect Slough, the United Kingdom and Paris. This subsea cable is designed to support the increase in bandwidth requirements from telecoms, enterprises, content providers, as well as financial, gaming, and media companies that require high capacity, low latency connectivity. The high fibre count, “non-repeatered” system will contain 96 fibre pairs, each providing over 20 terabits per second of capacity throughput, and will be ready for service in the fall of 2021.
To support the project, Crosslake Fibre has engaged EGS, a global provider of marine surveys and services, to undertake the marine and burial surveys for the project. Crosslake Fibre has placed the marine survey contract into force and survey activities have commenced.
Crosslake Fibre CEO Mike Cunningham, said: “We are excited to launch this historic subsea project and deliver a new, much-needed connection across the English Channel connecting the critically important data hubs of Slough and Paris. This new fibre infrastructure has been optimized to create the shortest path between the two data 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.
“The marine survey is an essential milestone in the development of subsea projects. That is why key partners such as EGS are important, as they have the expertise and knowledge to ensure a successful survey of the route and ultimately pave the way for an optimal deployment of the cable.”
Deborah Jenkins, UK Director for EGS, said: “The marine survey is a critical aspect for any new cable system, and we will be conducting geophysical and geotechnical surveys that will enable an optimised route design.”
In addition, Crosslake Fibre’s capital partner, Tiger Infrastructure Partners, has invested additional capital into the Crosslake platform to support the CrossChannel Fibre system and advance the growth and development of new projects.
