The route would utilise the Greenland Connect cable owned and operated by TELE Greenland, and if successful, it could remove up to 1100km from the existing route. Though still in the planning stages, new research gathered by all three parties suggest a shorter optimal latency route will be the best option, and provide Iceland with much needed connectivity.
Iceland has been renowned for high capacity prices, meaning there has been a continued barrier to data centre usage in the country. Saunders said there is continued interest in Iceland as a data centre hub from carriers, content providers and financial customers, but a lack of available connectivity has hindered any development.
“Amazon, Google and Microsoft have all talked about using data centres in Iceland but the cost of to connect there has been the challenge,” Saunders said at ITW 2012. “We know for a fact that financial institutions also would be interested in putting offshore connectivity, and even back up recovery facility in Iceland, in preference over the US and the UK, but there is not enough connectivity to stimulate that.”
