Fiber Optic Cable Planned Under Arctic Ocean

The Finnish company Cinia and the North American company Far North Digital have announced a joint effort to build a fiber optic cable system, which will link Europe and Asia through the Arctic, Morgunblaðið reports. The hope is that the work will be completed in 2025. It is assumed that Iceland will be connected to this system, although that remains uncertain.

Cinia is a  networks, cybersecurity and software solutions provider, while Far North Digital is focused on telecommunications infrastructure development.

The world relies increasingly on good telecommunications, and the planned cable system is intended to speed and improve the security of telecommunications between nations.

The planned cable system will run from Japan, via the Northwest Passage, to Europe with landings in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic. The cable will then run along Baffin Island, past Greenland toward Iceland, and from there to Northern Norway, via land to Finland, and then to Ireland.

The 14,000-km cable system will greatly reduce the optical distance between Asia and Europe, thus minimizing signal latency. The project is estimated to cost EUR 1 billion (USD 1.15 billion).

Various connections are planned along the route, including Iceland and remote places in Alaska, Canada and Greenland. The goal is to provide remote areas with good internet connection.