wiredInUSA February 2017

Connecting Greenland

New “always on” policy

New 100G network along the Greenland west coast. Photograph courtesy of greenland.com

Telstra has guaranteed customers on its Japan-Hong Kong and Singapore-Hong Kong subsea cables that they will almost immediately be rerouted to another connection route in the event of submarine cable damage under its new “always on” policy. Currently, when subsea cables suffer damage, it can take months to reconnect customers. Telstra is now promising a wait time measured in hours, which will eventually be reduced to minutes, using automation. According to Telstra, announcing the policy at the Pacific Telecommunications Council Conference in Hawaii, it now has enough diverse cables in its subsea network to guarantee almost unceasing uptime, including in the event of a natural disaster or a cable being accidentally cut.

Huawei Marine will partner with Tele Greenland for the deployment of a 100G network along the Greenlandic west coast and a capacity upgrade of the existing Greenland Connect between Greenland, Iceland and North America. When completed, the new system is expected to be the world’s most northerly 100G submarine network. Greenland is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans with 80 percent of the island covered by ice and snow throughout the year. Huawei Marine will supply and, in collaboration with Tele Greenland, install submarine line terminal equipment for Greenland Connect North, which will connect Nuuk (the capital), Maniitsoq, Sisimiut and Aasiaat. The new system will initially hold a capacity of 100G. Huawei Marine will also supply and install submarine line terminal equipment for the existing Greenland Connect system, with initial capacity of 100G.

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wiredInUSA - February 2017