Future AUDUR subsea fibre link between Iceland and UK makes progress
Earlier this year we reported that Icelandic network operator Farice (now known as Korda Networks) aimed to boost data capacity between the UK and Iceland by unveiling plans to build a new subsea fibre link – named AUÐUR. Korda has now appointed Pioneer Consulting as lead adviser for the project, with the cable currently targeted to go live around the end of 2029 or early 2030.
The cable itself, which will run between Meðalland on Iceland’s south coast and Irvine Bay on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland (west of Glasgow), is expected to be around 1,300km long from the south cost of Iceland to the Firth of Clyde with an additional 40-50km to Glasgow. This will be a high capacity cable with 16-24 fibre pairs resulting in 320-480Tbps (Terabits per second) of capacity.
The appointment of Pioneer Consulting is a key development as they will support Korda Networks in developing the overall project strategy and oversee tendering, bid evaluation, and supplier selection for key elements of the project, including the marine survey, cable manufacture and installation. Pioneer Consulting will also provide project management services throughout construction and installation.
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The marine survey is currently still planned for summer 2027. Tendering is currently underway for terrestrial fibre routes connecting the Icelandic landing site to service delivery sites, with construction expected to begin in summer 2027. Once live, diverse routes will also be available to major European telecom hubs, including London, Dublin, Amsterdam and the other Nordic countries, from Glasgow.
Just to clarify one point. Korda Networks was formed on 1st September 2026 by merging the international carrier Farice with the critical communication operations of Neyðarlínan (112 Iceland). Korda already operates three subsea (submarine) fibre optic cables that connect Iceland with Ireland (IRIS), Scotland (FARICE-1) and mainland Europe (DANICE).
However, the FAIRCE-1 cable, which was first deployed some 22 years ago in 2004, is starting to get a bit old and will turn 30 in 2033, thus it makes sense to have a replacement ready in time for the old cable to eventually be retired.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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