Today, there are more than 420 submarine cables in service, stretching over 700,000 miles around the world. This complex subsea network is primarily clustered around information economy hotspots such as New York, London, and Singapore, but subsea cables can connect to just about anywhere on the planet. One common misconception is that most of our information is transmitted through satellites, but subsea fiber-optic cables, as part of the world’s digital super highways, actually form the backbone of the Internet, transmitting approximately 99 percent of all data.

Just recently it was announced that Hurricane Electric has activated one 100 Gigabit waves of high capacity connectivity between New York and Dublin on Aqua Comms DAC’s America Europe Connect-1 (AEC-1) subsea cable system. Aqua Comms is the operator of Ireland’s first dedicated subsea fibre-optic network interconnecting New York, Dublin and London. By securing secure and reliable capacity on Aqua Comms’ next-generation undersea network, Hurricane Electric will improve the speed, performance and resiliency of its global Internet backbone, and consequently all its IP Transit customers’ networks.

“Aqua Comms’ America Europe Connect-1 subsea cable system provides an important link between several of the world’s most vital social and economic hubs,” stated Nigel Bayliff, Chief Executive Officer, Aqua Comms, about the announcement. “We are pleased that Hurricane Electric has selected AEC-1 to provide 100G waves service. This high capacity connectivity will deliver essential transport on a low latency route from New York to Dublin, onward to Manchester and Amsterdam, and mainland Europe, which is diverse from its existing transatlantic circuits to London and Paris.”

Aqua Comms’ high capacity transatlantic route includes diverse terrestrial segments on both ends. This will allow Hurricane Electric to provision end-to-end high capacity connectivity without regeneration, utilizing advanced modulation techniques. Additionally, Aqua Comms’ reputation as a reliable subsea network provider and its ability to work with customers to provide a commercial offering that would meet their end goals factored in Hurricane Electric’s selection of the Irish carrier’s carrier.

“Hurricane Electric selected America Europe Connect-1 based on the reliability and diversity of its route, our confidence in Aqua Comms as a supplier, and the creative commercial package it developed to optimally solve our business objectives,” remarked Mike Leber, President, Hurricane Electric. “Not only will Aqua Comms’ 100 Gigabit optical wavelengths service improve the performance and resiliency of our global Internet backbone, but the networks of Hurricane Electric’s IP Transit customers will also ultimately benefit.”

Aqua Comms’ subsea fiber-optic network is designed to meet the needs of carriers, global service providers, cloud-based networks, financial services companies, and Over-the-Top (OTT) content providers, as well as the global media. Aqua Comms also recently made news when it was announced that the company had joined the HAVFRUE consortium which will own and operate a new subsea cable system connecting New Jersey, U.S.A., to Ireland, and Denmark, with connectivity options to Norway. Aqua Comms will market and sell capacity services and raw spectrum on its portion of the HAVFRUE cable system under the brand name America Europe Connect-2 (AEC-2) as complementary to AEC-1.

To learn more about Aqua Comms, visit www.aquacomms.com.

For more information about Hurricane Electric, visit www.he.net.