Iceland gave the go ahead last month for a new submarine data cable to be laid between Iceland and Denmark next year.
The project will be led by Farice – a communications company which is owned 80% by Icelandic shareholders and 20% by Faroese – and will significantly boost IT connections in Iceland.
According to the Icelandic Ministry of Communications, the new submarine cable will ensure safe transportation of data to and from Iceland and will be a welcome addition to the current Farice 1 cable which connects Iceland and the Faroe Islands with Scotland. The two cables will be run as a unified system which will guarantee connection in case of breakdown.
It is anticipated that the new cable will increase business opportunities in Iceland as the route was decided on with data centers in mind. The Iceland-Denmark cable will mean less latency to Central and Eastern Europe and will create desirable proximity to the connection points in Stockholm and Amsterdam. The cable will also use state of the art technology and will stand up to the strictest data center demands on capacity and other technical aspects.
Farice is at the last stages of the study phase for the cable which is planned to be up and running by late 2008.