Italy's Sparkle Dives Into Subsea Fiber Sensing Project
By Fierce Network
April 17, 2025
Italian operator Sparkle has joined the European Union-funded ECSTATIC project, aiming to repurpose submarine fiber-optic cables into a global distributed sensing system for seismic monitoring and infrastructure protection.
The Enhanced Communication Through Submarine Cables for Time-sensitive and Intelligent Control (ECSTATIC) initiative seeks to develop solutions that integrate high-speed optical communication with sensing capabilities. By leveraging existing submarine cable networks, the project aspires to enable real-time detection of seismic events, tsunamis and other geophysical phenomena.
With billions of miles of optical fiber cables installed worldwide – much of which traverses undersea regions beyond the reach of conventional sensors – the potential for large-scale sensing without additional deployment is significant. However, realizing this potential necessitates redefining communication techniques, signal characteristics and network architectures.
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