IOEMA’s 1Pbps Subsea Fibre Cable Project Between UK and Europe Expands

The IOEMA Fibre project, which was first announced last year (here) and now plans to build a 1,600km long repeatered subsea fibre optic cable between the UK and several neighbouring countries, has revealed that its seventh landing point in Northern Europe – Scheveningen (Netherlands) – has now been confirmed and is to be delivered by Greenhouse Datacenters.

The project, which is currently expected to enter the construction phase sometime in 2026 and will then aim to be completed by the end of 2027, has gone through a few changes since it was formally announced last year (following several years in the initial planning and design phase since 2019).

For example, the cable itself was originally due to be 1,371km long and include support for 48 fibre pairs, with each pair being able to handle data transfer speeds of around 27-29Tbps (Terabits per second). But the length has since been extended to 1,600km to accommodate additional landing sites across the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Norway (further connectivity to France is also envisaged, but negotiations over landing sites are ongoing).

The cable itself is now a 24-fibre pair system that offers a total capacity of up to 1Pbps (down from 1.3Pbps) and is no longer multi-core. But the new cable should be able to deliver data speeds of 37Tbps per fibre pair on its longest span. In addition, it takes current international tensions and security into account by fully armouring the submarine cable and securing it along its entire length. Latency will also be improved by up to 5.5 milliseconds on certain routes.

IOEMA is also considering adding sensors to the system to make it the first SMART cable in Northern Europe (these will serve both Scientific and Defence purposes). IOEMA is collaborating on this initiative with partners including Eurofiber, Arelion, Colt, EXA Infrastructure (UK), Relined, Bulk, and EWE TEL.

Eckhard Bruckschen, CTO of IOEMA Fibre Ltd., said:

“We are pleased to announce an additional landing partner for the second Dutch landing point for the IOEMA fiber optic cable in the Netherlands, in the Rotterdam/The Hague area.

By partnering with Greenhouse Datacenters, IOEMA connects directly into a rich connectivity ecosystem, including an on-site AMS-IX PoP. This makes the IOEMA cable accessible to the broader market in South Holland and beyond. Organizations in this area can benefit from ultra-fast, redundant, secure, and AI-ready connections to other Internet hubs in Northern Europe via Greenhouse.”

Despite all the expansion, the project’s progress has recently suffered a bit due to “manufacturing capacity constraints in the market“, although it’s currently still envisaged to complete the construction phase in Q4 2027 and to then enter the operational service delivery phase in 2028.

The new cable isn’t just about adding extra capacity but will also serve as a replacement for some ageing and decommissioned cables (e.g. SEA-ME-WE 3, TAT-14, AC-1, CANTAT-3, etc.).