Pisces JV Advances EU-Backed Atlantic Cable Project

Publication Staff, Orange Newsroom
October 14, 2026

Equitix, MDM and Orange have established a joint venture to develop Pisces, a submarine cable project intended to give Ireland a direct connection to mainland Europe along the Atlantic coast. The venture, PISCES Cable System Ltd, will be led by subsea specialist Carine Romanetti as chief executive. Bringing together infrastructure investment, Irish cable development expertise and telecommunications operations, the partnership advances a project supported by the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility. Pisces also aligns with the EU's Digital Global Gateway Strategy and Ireland's ambitions for stronger international digital connectivity.

The planned system spans approximately 3,125 km and incorporates 16 fiber pairs. Its landing points are Galway in Ireland, Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez in France, Sopelana in Spain and Carcavelos in Portugal. Orange will build a new cable landing station at Sopelana. Commercially, Pisces is being developed as an open-access dark fiber system, with scalability among its stated objectives. Equitix's investment is being made through Equitix Infra Ireland, its fund dedicated to Irish greenfield infrastructure, whose anchor investor is the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. The combination of private investment and Connecting Europe Facility support underpins the development effort.

For the submarine cable sector, Pisces is significant principally as another routing option between Ireland and continental European networks. Its Atlantic alignment is intended to offer an alternative to connectivity that transits the United Kingdom, addressing the shortage of direct Ireland-to-mainland Europe links identified by the developers. Ireland's concentration of cloud and data center activity, including hyperscale and AI participants, provides the context for those connections. The project is designed to support direct interconnection with continental data centers while adding route diversity and reinforcing resilience. Connections with existing transatlantic and other international cable systems are also envisaged.

Development work has progressed beyond the route survey stage. Elettra Tlc and Orange Marine, both Orange subsidiaries, completed the marine survey in August, and engineering work and permitting are now in progress. Preparations for deployment continue, with installation expected during 2028. That remains an anticipated deployment timeframe rather than a stated ready-for-service date. The current focus is therefore on engineering and permitting as the partners prepare to deliver the four-country system, translating the joint venture announcement and completed survey work into the project's continuing development.

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