Sea Fibre Networks Commences CeltixConnect - a $15m Subsea Network Investment for the Most Data Driven Island in Europe
DUBLIN, December 12, 2011/PRNewswire/ --
Today marked a major watershed for international connectivity between Ireland and the
UK as Sea Fibre Networks [http://www.seafibre.com ] (SFN), owner and operator of Europe's
most advanced sub-sea telecoms network CeltixConnect 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. The 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 accelerate the growth of the latency
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 and the Welsh smart economy.
Diane Hodnett, CEO, Sea Fibre Networks, said, "CeltixConnect 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 which 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 and legacy
networks globally are straining to accommodate the ever-increasing demand. This is
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."
Welsh Assembly 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 online business applications, video and online storage and back up.
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.
Gabe Ruhan, CEO of the Global Marine Group said, "Global Marine is pleased to be
installing this important new telecommunications link. As a global leader of installing
telecommunications systems offshore and in particular being a UK headquartered company,
we, via our vessel Cable Innovator are looking forward to installing CeltixConnect next
week. We congratulate Sea Fibre Networks on its vision to bring this new high speed
connectivity between Ireland and the UK.
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.
Source: Sea Fibre Networks
Contact: Sarah Cunningham, +35387-2502954, sarah@seafibre.com