Cinia Says C-Fiber Hanko Pledges Investment In Arctic Connect Project
By Telecompaper
June 21, 2018
By TelecompaperFinnish ICT company Cinia said that C-Fiber Hanko will invest in the Arctic Connect project, exploring the idea of building a digital bridge between Europe and Asia via the Northeast passage. The project is run by Cinia and commissioned by the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications.
C-Fiber Hanko has already invested in Cinia's C-Lion1 submarine cable from Finland to Germany International network connections through the Western Uusimaa region boost economic development and employment in the area.
The Arctic Connect route may include an option for a C-Lion2, a submarine line between the Bay of Bothnia and the Hanko Peninsula. This route would serve as a complementary connection and back-up to terrestrial networks, too.
The Arctic Connect initiative is linked to the Arctic Council’s objective to improve connectivity in the Arctic region. Cinia is now looking into the availability of and needs for terrestrial and submarine fibre connections between Southern Finland, Kirkenes in Norway, and Murmansk in Russia.
Eero Hettula, chairman of the board of C-Fiber Hanko, said C-Lion2 would add to the importance and appeal of the area as a network node and data centre location.
Judging by route plans and discussions with interest groups during the preliminary investigation, Finland’s nationwide network backbone needs extra fibre connections, said Ari-Jussi Knaapila, CEO of Cinia, As new services and applications along with FTTH/B and 5G networks continue to increase data traffic, reliable and comprehensive optical backbone is a must, Knaapila added.
Once completed, Arctic Connect would link Europe, North America and Asia, with a potential reach of 85 percent of the world's population. Technical specifications in the current plans are six fibre pairs with a capacity of 60 terabits per second (Tbps) and a total length of 18,000 kilometres.
