By Harald Berglihn, DN Investor
December 26, 2017
A Norwegian company collaborates with Facebook, among others, to build and own the Mermaid Cable that extends from the United States to Denmark. Norway has the opportunity to connect.
We hereby become the first data center provider with its own transatlantic fiber cable, says Peder Nærbø (48).
In addition to extensive operations in the construction of logistics centers in Norway, Nærbø is behind the major N01 Campus, a data center in the north of Kristiansand, which aims to tempt large global actors to establish themselves.
“The new fiber cable will go from New Jersey to Jutland, where among others Facebook is building a large data center at Odense. The agreement entails both a connection to Ireland and an option for two-three connections to Norway: Kristiansand, Vestlandet and possibly Northern Norway. This is a giant opportunity to connect directly to the global fiber network, which will be of great importance to Norway as data centering, says Nærbø.
At Christmas Eve, he received the final confirmation from Facebook that he was able to present the news in Norway.
Irish Aqua Comms is the owner and operator of transatlantic cables and will be the manager of landings in the US, Denmark and Ireland, while Bulk will be managing for landing in Norway.
Needs capital
But if Norway is to connect to the new cable, which has been named Mermaid Cable, the options must be exercised during the spring. And not least, more capital must be obtained.
“We will spend time well in the spring to declare as many of our options as possible.
What will this cost?
“I can not say anything about prices, but, of course, this will be a very big investment. One billion goes fast. Initially, Bulk Infrastructure has become part of the consortium to build the cable between the US and Denmark. That's what we have made available for so far, but we have started the process of applying for landfill of the fiber cable in Kristiansand, says Nærbø, who aims at the cable to be operational once in the fall of 2019.
