Hibernia Atlantic plans low-latency transatlantic submarine cable from New York to London

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 -- Hibernia Atlantic says it plans to build a cable route from New York to London that will offer latency under 60 ms. The new Project Express will complement Hibernia’s existing Global Financial Network (GFN).

“Demand for low-latency routes has grown exponentially over the past several years,” states Bjarni Thorvardarson , CEO of Hibernia Atlantic. "Project Express will offer the lowest latency from New York to London and provide demanding customers the speed and accuracy they require."

The new Express transatlantic cable will allow customers to reach other key financial cities as well, Hibernia Atlantic says. These low-latency connections will include links between Frankfurt and London and into Chicago, New York City, and Toronto. Additionally, Toronto will now connect into London at less than 70 ms, Hibernia Atlantic asserts.

Express will initially be lit with 40-Gbps technology, upgradeable to 100-Gbps technology in the future. Hibernia Atlantic says Express will include an entirely new, all marine, four-fiber pair, transatlantic optical cable system. The sub-60-ms figure on the new route, which will be the first new transatlantic cable in nearly 10 years, is significantly lower latency than all other transatlantic cable systems, Hibernia Atlantic says.

“The desktop study is complete, the vendor selection field has been narrowed, and we’re ready to move forward with this project,” states Mike Saunders, vice president of business development for Hibernia Atlantic. “Construction is second nature to Hibernia, having just completed another submarine cable, landing station, and terrestrial network into Northern Ireland. Additionally, Hibernia owns and operates two transatlantic cable systems. With our vast experience, this new venture is a natural fit for our business.”

The first phase of the new build will begin with a new cable from the County of Somerset in the UK, to Halifax in Canada, then connection to Hibernia’s current low latency cable from Halifax to New York. In addition, the new system will include branching units for future latency enhancements to the US and Continental Europe. The build is projected to be completed by the summer of 2012.

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