Today marked a major watershed for international connectivity between Ireland and the UK as Sea Fibre Networks (SFN), owner and operator of Europe's most advanced sub-sea telecoms network CelticConnect launched the first major European sub-sea cable for eleven years.

The 450 foot Cable Innovator has arrived in Dublin, Ireland to commence the much awaited subsea lay. 98% of Internet traffic is carried on sub-sea cables and this critical infrastructure will support the infinite growth of data driven by cloud computing, online gaming, social media and mobile data devices. CeltixConnect, as the shortest route will transform the growth of the latency (speed) sensitive digital services Industry, addressing many of the issues that have been facing FDI technology and financial organisations as well as providing the infrastructure to drive Ireland's smart economy.

Diane Hodnett, Chief Executive Officer, Sea Fibre Networks, said, “€œCeltixConnect delivers connectivity that is a game changer not only for business and industry but for everyday life on the net, Smartphones, Facebook, Online gaming and cloud based services, all of these things 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. Legacy networks globally are straining to accommodate the ever-increasing demand, evidenced by the massive customer interest we have experienced.”

Irish Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Pat Rabbitte T.D. said: “Ireland's continued success in attracting digital services foreign direct investment is 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”

His Welsh Assembly member – Minister for Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science, Edwina Hart described the European sub-sea cable connection as great news for North Wales stating : “This investment in such critically important infrastructure can only bring benefits to businesses in the region providing access to international network connectivity. It is welcomed by the Welsh Government and will help make businesses more competitive while such connectivity is always an attraction for inward investment projects. It has the potential to support the development of the Energy Island project on Anglesey which is also the preferred location for an Enterprise Zone.”

Demand for high-speed fibre

Demand in the corporate sector is being driven by the mounting adoption of cloud computing, including applications such as hosted email, CRM, streaming video and other applications; intensified regulation and compliance; the continued conversion of traditional business to internet-centric models; and the continuing explosion of online media all of which needs to be transported, distributed and stored.

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 90pc of all consumer traffic by 2012.

For example more than 2 years of music can pass through each fibre per second, at 72 fibres, that is more than a lifetime of easy listening in a second. 28 days of video can go through per second, or the entirety of Wikipedia in the same second.

About CeltixConnect:

CeltixConnect is owned and operated by Sea Fibre Networks Limited, a privately held Irish Company, founded by an experienced team of executives with a track record of owning and operating sub-sea and terrestrial telecoms networks.

CeltixConnect's unique business model offers the opportunity to leaseor buy dedicated sub-sea dark fibre or lease dedicated high capacity managed services. All CeltixConnect products will be supported by industry leading Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and a programme of active management of the sub-sea cable.