EXA Infrastructure boosts network capacity with first new fibre link between UK and France in 20 years

EXA Infrastructure, the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America, today announced the commissioning of a new fibre optic network link between London and Paris that is now the most direct route, and the first under the English Channel for 20 years.

The new route will offer greater capacity, resiliency and the lowest latency digital infrastructure connecting the two financial and data centre hubs, with a data round trip taking less than 5.5 milliseconds.

The single fibre pair link will run over Crosslake Fibre’s new 550-kilometre CrossChannel cable  from the data centre hub of Slough, UK, through London and then directly to Paris via the shortest route possible, including sub-sea between Brighton, UK, and Veules-Les-Roses, France. This enables lower operating costs due to fewer amplification sites and a reduced risk of outages. It forms an integral part of the most critical digital network routes in western Europe that carry traffic between the economic hubs of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris.

“This new link will boost network capacity significantly, and bring the ability to carry data over more diverse routes between the UK and mainland Europe as we continue to broaden our geographic coverage to lead our sector. It will also become a critical part of the chain that connects European digital infrastructure with North America over transatlantic sub-sea cables,” said Ciaran Delaney, Chief Operating Officer, EXA Infrastructure.

“CrossChannel is a welcome tonic now and for the future, as many of the fibre optic cables that were laid across the English Channel in the late 1990s and early 2000s are nearing the end of their commercial and technical lifespans. It will make sure there is sufficient capacity between London and Paris now and well into the future, making use of the very latest technology,” he said.

“CrossChannel is a next-generation cable that is capable of supporting more than 2,400 Terabits-per-second (Tbps) of capacity. It is a critical piece of Europe’s network backbone and safeguards data flows between the UK and France that would have otherwise struggled to cope with growing demand,” said Fergus Innes, Chief Commercial Officer of Crosslake Fibre.

Earlier this month, EXA announced capital investment of €190 million, due to rise to €340 million by its first anniversary in September, across its European network. The programme will see 7,000 kilometres of new terrestrial and sub-sea routes created, and dark fibre lit to increase capacity on many existing links.

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About EXA Infrastructure

Headquartered in London, UK, EXA Infrastructure is the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America, and owns 112,000 kilometres of fibre network across 32 countries. EXA’s network connects 300 cities and offers 14 Tier 3-equivalent data centres, with sub-sea routes that include three transatlantic cables, one the lowest latency link between Europe and North America. EXA is wholly-owned by I Squared Capital. For more information, see exainfra.net