According to Zayo Zeus was designed to be the densest, deeply buried and robust cable available in the North Sea, and the system includes terrestrial backhaul connectivity to London and Amsterdam.
Specifically, Zeus has been buried between 2 and 3 metres under the seabed in comparison with half a metre for existing cables. It also features a guaranteed 100% dual-armour - all the way through the joints - to prevent interference.
“Meeting the connectivity needs of tomorrow requires deploying the most advanced network today, and that’s exactly what we’ve built for customers who want a hyper-fast and ultra-reliable connection between the UK and mainland Europe,” said Jesper Aagaard, president of Zayo Europe.
“Zeus is now the strongest connection available in the region. We utilised the best cable available, buried it deeper in the seabed than our competitors and made it even more reliable than alternatives. We are confident our customers will benefit from this project for years- and even decades- to come.”
Zeus boasts 192 fibres, the highest fibre count connecting the UK and mainland Europe. The system also used Ultra Low Loss (ULL) optical fibres, so wavelength throughput on a single channel between London and Amsterdam can reach up to 600G, while the entire network can handle 2,650Tbps of C Band, at full capacity.
At the same time, Zayo continuously monitors Zeus via Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) devices for quick fault identification, as well as a 24x7 guard vessel to monitor any activity along the path.
“The North Sea is an extremely challenging body of water for a subsea project like Zeus. Not only are there harsh weather conditions and relentless currents, the seabed is littered with items, some as simple as a discarded aluminum can and some as formidable as unexploded bombs left over from the Second World War,” said Geir Holmer, CEO of JTD Associates and a key consultant on the project.
“Not only did we overcome these challenges, we worked tirelessly with Zayo to ensure this route was built to last - making it the most resilient route across the North Sea. I’m proud to have been part of this project, and what it will enable.”
At the time of the announcement, Zayo confirmed that its European team, based in central London, is also preparing to launch a new ULL route connecting Frankfurt to Milan via Zurich.
Capacity spoke to Yannick Leboyer, chief operations officer of Zayo Europe at length about the project last year.
