12,000Km pan-Caribbean fibre optic cable closer to deployment

Developer and operator of subsea fibre-optic systems Deep Blue Cable is to begin the deployment of a 12,000Km cable which will connect the Caribbean to the Americas.

The company has contracted with TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity company, to build and lay the Deep Blue subsea cable system.

The pan-Caribbean system will initially count with landing points in 12 markets throughout the region, including the Cayman Islands, Curaçao, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, and Turks & Caicos Islands.

It will also have dual diverse landings in the US, which will include the first landing of a cable on the Gulf Coast of Florida, the company claimed.

The subsea cable network will offer an initial capacity of 6 Tbps per fibre pair and is projected to be completed in Q4 of 2019.

Stephen Scott, CEO of Deep Blue Cable, said: “Deep Blue Cable has great confidence in TE SubCom and its ability to build a state-of-the-art subsea cable system that will provide long overdue advanced connectivity across the Caribbean islands and to the Americas.

“The Deep Blue cable system will play a critical role in serving developing Caribbean countries that are now experiencing a surge in demand for advanced telecom services and currently rely on fibre-optic connectivity that is technologically and economically disadvantaged.”

Mike Rieger, vice president of sales at TE SubCom, said: “TE SubCom is pleased to be entrusted by Deep Blue Cable with the construction of their fibre-optic subsea cable system, which will expand and enhance connectivity across the Caribbean region and to the Americas.

“In a region that has experienced no significant fibre-optic deployment in recent years, this submarine cable will satisfy not only the current spike in demand for connectivity in developing Caribbean countries, but also future requirements driven by projected growth.”

Data Economy