EXA Infrastructure Deploys New Subsea Fibre Optic Route from London to Europe

London-registered network operator EXA Infrastructure, which in 2021 was acquired by investment firm I Squared Capital, has today confirmed the completed deployment of a new 1,200km fibre optic network route that will connect London in England to Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Brussels.

The project reflects a new consortium submarine fibre cable, where EXA is the sole telecom consortium member, responsible for providing Landing Party and backhaul services. The new 1,200km route includes 1,085km of new low-loss G.652D terrestrial fibre for end-to-end connectivity and a 115km subsea build, which runs from Margate (UK) to Ostend (Belgium) utilizing ultra-low-loss G.654C cable.

The two new landing stations – Exa’s 21st and 22nd globally – further strengthens its growing network spanning the U.S. East Coast, Western Europe, and the Mediterranean. The project will also help to enhance Europe’s digital infrastructure with upgrades to existing In Line Amplifier (ILA) facilities across the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Steve Roberts, EXA’s SVP Strategic Network Investments, said:

“This is a real milestone for robust connectivity options in Europe, and includes the first new subsea cable on this complex corridor – the North Sea – in 25 years. This new route complements our investment in the Channel Tunnel delivering scalable, modern and optimized fibre paths between key FLAP hubs.”

Ciaran Delaney, COO at EXA Infrastructure, added:

“This has been a complex and challenging build.. The regulatory landscape in Europe plus the North Sea’s challenging seabed conditions demanded ‘in region’ expertise in the various jurisdictions plus sophisticated installation techniques particularly on the wet segments to install and protect the system from future interruption to service. At EXA Infrastructure, we have the right expertise and experience to overcome the most complex and challenging situations to in this case, deliver the next-generation connectivity across Europe.”

At the time of writing we don’t yet know how much this specific project will cost, but it is being funded through part of the €395m they’ve invested into expanding their network since launch in 2021. The project mentioned above actually started in 2021 too, and today’s news represents the completion of that effort. All routes are thus now available to their customers.

In terms of performance, the London to Amsterdam route has an estimated latency of 6.2ms and London to Frankfurt is estimated at 9.4ms. In terms of capacity throughput, the new routes can support over 5Pb/s (Petabits per second).