Ireland set to be the digital bridge between the EU and US

At an event held last Friday at the Talbot Hotel, Belmullet hosted by Mayo County Council, exciting plans for a trans-Atlantic fibre link and the build-out of a National Dark Fibre network in the North West through to Dublin were unveiled by Emerald Networks and Pipiper Infrastructure. The plans involve the laying of 5,300Km of sub sea fibre (6 pairs of fibre equating to a total potential capacity of 60 Terabits) by Emerald Networks. The trans-Atlantic fibre, which will be laid on the seabed following the shortest route from New York, will be brought ashore near Belmullet in Co Mayo.

Completing the opportunity this new fibre presents, there will be a simultaneous build-out of a dark fibre network by Pipiper Infrastructure.This dark fibre network will provide a fully resilient transit of the Country via Galway into Dublin with a redundant back-up link via Sligo into Letterkenny, joining the Project Kelvin cable that also connects to Dublin.
Speaking at the event, Minister Michael Ring TD warmly welcomed these announcements on behalf of Government.  He said; “today is an historic day and a great day for Mayo. 

As An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD said at yesterday’s event in the Mansion House in Dublin we want to prove by 2016 that Ireland is the best country in the world to do business and isn’t it great that Mayo will be the starting point for this very exciting national project.”

When the fibre goes live in Spring 2013, it will double existing capacity on the trans-Atlantic route and reduce transmission times by up to 4milliseconds.  Each millisecond of reduced latency is estimated, by most observers, to be worth in excess of €100million per annum for each company involved in financial trading. Ireland has an unassailable opportunity in this regard as the reduction in latency is due to the West of Ireland’s geographical location presenting it as the closest physical point to New York within Europe.

These announcements are a significant step forward in improving Ireland’s competitiveness, making it more attractive as a location for new business innovation and new investment and easier to retain existing Foreign Direct Investment enterprises. It will also assist in creating an environment for indigenous enterprise to develop and prosper.

Supporting the initiative, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte TD who also addressed Thursday’s event in Dublin, said that this initiative would help to accelerate development in the Western Region.

Peter Hynes, Mayo County Manager thanked the various Western Local Authorities and the Western Development Commission and noted that without the commitment and total generosity of the Marine Institute, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and The Irish Naval Service it would not have been possible to advance the project as quickly as it has been done.

Following the presentations, a public information session continued into the afternoon.  News of the cable going live in Belmullet in Q1 2013 has been well received locally.