New submarine data cable to link Iceland and Europe

Iceland is looking to become a leading data center location following an agreement to lay a high speed communications connection to Europe.

A new fibre-optic cable system called ‘Danice’ will soon be built under the North Sea, connecting Iceland to Denmark and mainland Europe.

The cable will be laid by Icelandic / Faroese company ‘Farice’, and will complement an existing submarine cable system which runs to the UK via the Faroe Islands. The new cable system is scheduled to be operational and available for customers in the autumn of 2008.

The Icelandic Ministry of Communications said that the data cable will be designed to stand up to the strictest data center demands on capacity as well as other technical aspects. The new route via Denmark will mean less latency to Central and Eastern Europe and will create desirable proximity to the connection points in Stockholm and Amsterdam.

Many server-intensive businesses that require reliable and inexpensive power for collocation services are currently looking to Iceland as a cost-effective solution. Iceland has an abundance of cheap geothermal and hydroelectric energy and is committed to becoming entirely dependent on sustainable energy sources by 2050, thus making it an attractive location to many power-intensive industries.

Iceland is currently connected by the Farice 1 submarine cable which runs between Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the UK. The additional route will upgrade the capacity of residents and business in Iceland to connect to the world, as well as offering more efficiency and reliability in connection.

For more information on the communications cable and data centers in Iceland, visit www.invest.is.