A revolutionary telecoms cable connecting Galway to Iceland will begin being laid underwater this year with the final section to be pulled ashore over a five-day period at Balloughane Beach in the next two years.
Following the successful offshore marine survey earlier this year, Farice, (a company fully owned by the Icelandic Government, currently owns and operates two submarine cables linking Iceland to Northern Europe ) announced this week that the IRIS Sub-Sea Telecoms Cable System connecting Galway to Iceland and onwards to Denmark and the Nordics, on existing Farice networks, has progressed significantly.
Farice has signed a contract with SubCom, LLC, a global undersea fiber optic cable system supply company, to install the IRIS Cable System in the summer 2022.
All of the cable route design within Irish waters and environmental studies have been carried out and a formal application for a foreshore licence has been submitted to the Department of the Environmental, Housing and Local Government.
The offshore marine survey, conducted last year, coupled with detailed route engineering, was very successful and the cable installation design proves for stable burial of the cable throughout the route on the Irish continental shelf.
In this regard the presence of the cable will not impact or interfere with fishing, recreational or marine users. The installation of the cable will progress at approximately 20km per day with simultaneous lay and bury, such that the installation process, out to the limit of the Irish continental shelf at water depth of 1,500m, will be completed in about 15 days.
Work on the terrestrial section of underground duct and a termination station in Galway Port will be low-key and will take place in November of this year.
The work on Ballyloughane Strand will be carried out in April 2023 and will take about five days to bring the cable onshore with minimal disruption to beach users.
The presence of the Farice system landing in Galway will provide direct high-capacity links to Iceland but also to Northern Europe via Denmark and will greatly increase capacity and connectivity in the Galway region.
Farice is the owner and operator of two submarine fiber systems connecting Iceland to Europe, FARICE-1 and DANICE. Farice provides international wholesale connectivity services to telecom operators in Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland, and data centre customers in Iceland. The company provides diversified services to its customers including high capacity DWDM wavelengths, IP transit and Ethernet services.
Farice is fully owned by the Icelandic Government and plays an important role in Iceland’s infrastructure for the greater public good and economic life in Iceland.
