Once completed, Havsil will create the shortest route connecting Norway to continental Europe, all while leveraging cost-competitive renewable energy in the Nordics. It will also carry at least 30% of Norway’s international data traffic.
As of April this year, Bulk confirmed that all key supply contracts were completed, giving the green light for the planned 10-day installation process, which began on 5 September. Havsil is the first system that is fully financed, built and operated by Bulk Fiber Networks.
“This new express fibre route has the capacity needed to further enable Norway’s strategy as a destination nation for data centres and digital infrastructure,” said Merete Caubet, vice president of fiber networks at Bulk Infrastructure.
“Havsil brings both diverse redundant connectivity between Continental Europe and the Nordics, as well as being the only cable system in the region with modern neutral data centres at both end points.”
In the summer of 2020, Telia Carrier signed up as Havsil’s anchor customer and the Norwegian Communications Authority selected the Havsil system to serve as the new secure main fibre route for Norway’s international data traffic.
Spanning Skagerrak, from Esbjerg in Denmark to Oslo via Kristiansand in Norway, the Havsil cable boasts 192 fibres fully buried on the seabed for added protection and reliability. Bulk offers flexible
Indefeasible right of use or long-term lease agreements for single or multiple dark fibre pairs on the cable.
In addition, the Havsil terrestrial portion of the system will run along the West Coast of Denmark, bypassing the longer and more congested city routes. The direct-to-data-centre route further reduces cost and complexity by avoiding the more common cable landing stations and getting from there to the data centre.
The Havsil fibre system is due to be completed and ready for service by December 2021.
