The new system complements Aqua Comms’ existing AEC-1 (America Europe Connect-1) cable which became ready for service in 2016.
AEC-2 is the first system to directly connect North America (New Jersey, USA) to Denmark in twenty years, and is a wholly diverse and resilient new trans-Atlantic subsea route, doubling fibre connectivity between these two locations.
AEC-2 starts in North America from NJFX, a carrier-neutral cable landing station and Tier 3 colocation facility in New Jersey, enabling the cable to bypass New York City and follows a route that offers diversity from existing trans-Atlantic cables.
“As part of Aqua Comms’ expansion in the North Atlantic and across the globe, we are delighted to launch our second Trans-Atlantic cable, AEC-2, providing a new and diverse route that supports the critical data centre markets in the US and Northern Europe,” said Nigel Bayliff, chief executive officer of Aqua Comms.
“Data traffic continues to grow exponentially and we are looking forward to delivering industry-leading services to our customers over this new cable system.”
In addition, AEC-2 routes directly to Denmark offering increased diversity from traditional landing points in the UK. Developed using the latest technology the system also offers wavelength services ranging from 10G, 100G and 400G.
AEC-2 was designed with redundancy and diversity in mind, to support key data centre connectivity routes across the North Atlantic. These include connecting key US locations such as Ashburn, Virginia and 165 Halsey Street in New Jersey to Copenhagen in Denmark and the wider Nordic region as well as critical existing locations throughout Europe including Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Hamburg.
AEC-2 forms part of the North Atlantic Loop, that along with its portion of the Havfrue consortium cable, CeltixConnect-2 (CC-2), and North Sea Connect (NSC) due to be ready for service in early 2021, will form a resilient, ring-based subsea infrastructure link between the East Coast of the United States, Ireland, the UK and the Nordics.
