INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cabling
Crosslake Fibre announces new
CrossChannel Fibre system
between the UK and France
Crosslake Fibre, an international
network provider and developer
of unique subsea and terrestrial
fibre networks, has announced its newest
subsea cable project, CrossChannel Fibre.
The historic, next-generation 550km cable
is the first fibre-optic subsea cable to be
built across the English Channel in nearly
20 years and will connect Slough, United
Kingdom and Paris, France.
This new subsea cable is designed to
support the increase in bandwidth
requirements from telecoms, enterprises,
content providers, as well as financial,
gaming and media companies that require
high capacity, low latency connectivity. The
high fibre count, non-repeatered system
will contain 96 fibre pairs, each providing
over 20 terabits per second of capacity
throughput and will be ready for service in
the fall of 2021.
To support this project, Crosslake Fibre has
engaged EGS, a leading global provider of
marine surveys and services, to undertake
the marine and burial surveys for the
project. Crosslake Fibre has placed the
marine survey contract into force and
survey activities have commenced.
the backbone of the Internet," said Mike
Cunningham, CEO for Crosslake Fibre. "The
marine survey is an essential milestone
in the development of subsea projects.
That is why key partners such as EGS are
important, as they have the expertise and
knowledge to ensure a successful survey of
the route and ultimately pave the way for
an optimal deployment of the cable."
"We are proud to be a part of this
momentous subsea project that addresses
Internet capacity in a very busy and
congested part of the world," said Deborah
Jenkins, UK Director for EGS. "The marine
survey is a critical aspect for any new
cable system and we will be conducting
geophysical and geotechnical surveys
that will enable an optimised route design."
In addition, Crosslake Fibre's capital partner,
Tiger Infrastructure Partners, has invested
additional capital into the Crosslake platform
to support the CrossChannel Fibre system
and advance the growth and development
of new projects.
"Crosslake Fibre has demonstrated its
expertise and ability to successfully
develop and deploy infrastructure projects
globally. With its CrossChannel Fibre
project, the company is well-positioned to
support the increasing capacity needs of
high-growth regions in Europe," said Emil
Henry, CEO and Managing Partner of
Tiger Infrastructure Partners. "We are
excited to strengthen our long-term
commitment to Crosslake Fibre and to
support its future initiatives." •
"We are excited to launch this historic
subsea project and deliver a new, muchneeded
connection across the English
Channel connecting the critically important
data hubs of Slough and Paris. This new
fibre infrastructure has been optimised
to create the shortest path between the
two data hubs, providing users with an
enhanced technical solution and materially
lowering operating costs. With the
continued increase in bandwidth demand
further accelerated by the COVID-19
pandemic, subsea cables have never
been more critical to the functioning of
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