New data fibre link to UK

A new undersea fibre connection to the UK is to be laid between Dublin and Wales. The €11.5 million investment will significantly increase data communication capacity to the UK, and the rest of Europe, with benefits of low latency and reduced cost.

The new fibre will be part of the CeltixConnect network, owned and operated by Sea Fibre Networks.

Demand in the corporate sector is being driven by the mounting adoption of cloud computing, including online business applications, video and online storage and back up, according to Sea Fibre. These demand drivers are pushing the expansion of a digital world, founded on a fibre infrastructure of secure, high-capacity communications and highly available data centres. In addition, video-on-demand, IPTV peer-to-peer video and internet video is forecast to represent nearly 90% of all consumer traffic by 2012.

"CeltixConnect delivers connectivity that is a game changer not only for business and industry but for everyday life on the Net," said Diane Hodnett, chief executive officer, Sea Fibre Networks. "Smartphones, Facebook, Online gaming and cloud based services, all of which didn’t exist ten years ago when the last cables were laid into and out of Ireland and the UK. Demand and traffic volumes related to the Internet double every two years and legacy networks globally are straining to accommodate the ever-increasing demand. This is evidenced by the massive customer interest we have experienced."

"Ireland’s continued success in attracting digital services foreign direct investment is," said Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte TD, "dependent on its ability to deliver on the fundamentals of high capacity communications infrastructure – the most critical of which is a modern sub-sea cable capable of transporting content and data in and out of the country securely and at the highest speeds"

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