Interview
It’s been a busy few months for the Islalink workforce with the completion of the IONIAN cable going down earlier this 12 months. Esther Garcès, CEO of Islalink might be talking in regards to the launch at Submarine Networks EMEA 2023 later this month. Whole Telecom caught up with Esther this week to search out out extra in regards to the venture.
The IONIAN cable has been in operation since March 2023; how did the launch go?
Certainly, IONIAN reached RFS (‘prepared for service’) on the finish of March 2023. We have already got clients flowing their site visitors via our system.
It has been a beautiful journey, began with the preliminary inception of the venture and the design of the route, adopted by rigorously choosing our enterprise associates after which lastly delivering the venture. A number of weeks previous to RFS, we had been comfortable to witness the landings of the cable with our workforce, companions and mates: first in Crotone (Italy) after which in Preveza (Greece). Following that, we have now built-in the submarine system with the terrestrial backbones to have a single finish to finish system connecting the POP’s of Milan, Rome, Athens and Thessaloniki. We’re proud to say that IONIAN is essentially the most superior, state-of-the-art transmission system between Italy and Greece.
A number of weeks in the past (25th April), we formally inaugurated the system in Athens with our enterprise companions, clients and authorities.
Are you able to inform us extra in regards to the cable?
This new unrepeated submarine cable is a 330Km single stretch and consists of 24 fiber pairs. The cable is usually laid (75%) on the seabed (deep waters – greater than 1.000 meters of depth) to keep away from man-made hazards resembling fishing and anchoring. The route of the cable has been decided in such means in order that it’s completely numerous from current transmission methods within the Adriatic and within the Mediterranean Sea.
On high of that, we have now in place redundant terrestrial routes connecting Milan, Rome, Athens, and Thessaloniki.
What had been your key learnings and takeaways from the deployment course of?
Our in-house engineering workforce has a profitable and long-standing observe document within the improvement and building of submarine methods. This was complemented by collaboration with trusted native companions working in essentially the most specialised areas of subcontracting, resembling allowing, environmental evaluation and civil engineering.
With this, we have now ensured a clean transition course of from desktop examine and evaluation of the venture, as much as its completion.
Why did you select this route and touchdown stations for the venture?
That is essentially the most essential determination to be made when launching a brand new submarine cable venture. Making this determination is essential to the success of a brand new system, as these parameters can’t be modified sooner or later. Our determination is predicated on the next rules:
- Industrial potential – Italy-Greece is usually an underserved route. Now, there are numerous investments from OTTs, hyperscalers and information centre suppliers being introduced in Greece.
- Range from current routes – IONIAN is completely numerous from current methods.
- Safety and reliability – IONIAN is usually laid via deep waters, making the entire system sturdy.
What do the subsequent 12 months appear to be for Islalink?
We prefer to preserve ourselves busy, so sure, we’re undoubtedly on the outlook for extra investments. Clearly, we additionally need to additional develop IONIAN as a platform for development and we’re working to allow new PoPs in Greece and in Italy to deal with our buyer’s wants and higher attain the market. We are also exploring the likelihood to additional prolong IONIAN to neighbouring nations.
What are you wanting ahead to at Submarine Networks EMEA 2023?
Submarine Networks EMEA is the main annual subsea connectivity occasion within the area. We now have been collaborating on this occasion because it began, and have seen the way it has managed to draw the group of execs from the submarine sector. We’re wanting ahead to discussing IONIAN with and determine future initiatives.
Esther might be presenting on the IONIAN cable at Submarine Networks EMEA 2023 on thirty first Could. To hitch Esther and 800 senior determination makers from the worldwide submarine cable market, head to the occasion web site and e-book your ticket.
