A Nordic consortium of five players is exploring the possibility of building one of the largest digital infrastructure projects in European history – a fiber cable stretching from Northern Europe to East Asia and the USA via the Arctic. The project, called GlobalConnect, has been granted EUR 4 million from European Commission to finance the project phase: GlobalConnect Step 1.
A safer and faster digital connection via the Arctic
Today, 90 percent of all data communication between Europe and Asia passes through Red Sea, a route increasingly affected by geopolitical challenges. The ambition of the GlobalConnect project is to offer a significantly safer and shorter route through the Arctic, which will reduce transmission time, lower latency and improve resilience.
GlobalConnect's role and objectives
As part of this initiative, GlobalConnect to be part of an international consortium with the goal of strengthening digital resilience and security in our digitalized world.
– We are pleased to announce our participation in this groundbreaking Nordic consortium. On GlobalConnect "We are constantly working to future-proof the digital infrastructure in Northern Europe and beyond, and this project represents a major step forward. By enabling faster and more secure digital connectivity between Europe, Asia and the US, we are responding to the increasing global demand for high data capacity and robust digital infrastructure that strengthens our society," says Per Jansson, SVP, GlobalConnect Carrier.
GlobalConnect's experience with submarine cable projects
GlobalConnect has several years of experience in laying submarine cables in Scandinavia and has recently completed the largest digital infrastructure project in the Nordic region in a decade – a 2600 km long fiber cable from northern Sweden to Berlin, capable of transporting all data in the Nordic region.
An ambitious long-term project
GlobalConnect Stage 1 will start in 2025, with bottom surveys of the optimal route and other preparations. The Swedish government is discussing building a completely new icebreaker, capable of breaking through four meters thick and unexplored Arctic ice. When the cable is to be laid, the new ship and the Swedish icebreaker Oden to be used simultaneously. The cable is planned to be laid at a depth of approximately 4,000 meters in the Arctic Ocean and is expected to be completed in 2030.
The Nordic partners behind GlobalConnect
- The Swedish Research Council via Sunet
- NORDUnet
- Polar Research Secretariat
- Technical University of Denmark
- GlobalConnect
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