Sea Fibre Networks Commences CeltixConnect - a $15m Subsea Network Investment for the Most Data Driven Island in Europe

DUBLIN, December 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Today marked a major watershed for international connectivity between Ireland and the UK as Sea Fibre Networks (SFN), owner and operator of Europe's most advanced sub-sea telecoms network CeltixConnect launched the first major European sub-sea cable for eleven years.

The 450 foot Cable Innovator has arrived in Dublin, Ireland to commence the much awaited subsea lay. 98% of Internet traffic is carried on sub-sea cables.  The critical infrastructure will support the infinite growth of data driven by cloud computing, online gaming, social media and mobile data devices.

CeltixConnect, as the shortest route will accelerate the growth of the latency sensitive digital services Industry, addressing many of the issues that have been facing FDI technology and financial organisations as well as providing the infrastructure to drive Ireland and the Welsh smart economy.

Diane Hodnett, CEO, Sea Fibre Networks, said, "CeltixConnect delivers connectivity that is a game changer not only for business and industry but for everyday life on the net. Smartphones, Facebook, Online gaming and cloud based services, all of which didn't exist ten years ago when the last cables were laid into and out of Ireland and the UK. Demand and traffic volumes related to the Internet double every two years and legacy networks globally are straining to accommodate the ever-increasing demand. This is  evidenced by the massive customer interest we have experienced."

Irish Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Pat Rabbitte T.D. said: "Ireland's continued success in attracting digital services foreign direct investment is dependent on its ability to deliver on the fundamentals of high capacity communications infrastructure - the most critical of which is a modern sub-sea cable capable of transporting content and data in and out of the country securely and at the highest speeds."

Welsh Assembly Minister for Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science, Edwina Hart described the European sub-sea cable connection as great news for North Wales stating: "This investment in such critically important infrastructure can only bring benefits to businesses in the region providing access to international network connectivity. It is welcomed by the Welsh Government and will help make businesses more competitive while such connectivity is always an attraction for inward investment projects. It has the potential to support the development of the Energy Island project on Anglesey which is also the preferred location for an Enterprise Zone."

Demand for high-speed fibre

Demand in the corporate sector is being driven by the mounting adoption of cloud computing, including online business applications, video and online storage and back up. These demand drivers are pushing the expansion of a digital world, founded on a fibre infrastructure of secure, high-capacity communications and highly available data centres. In addition, video-on-demand, IPTV peer-to-peer video and internet video is forecast to represent nearly 90pc of all consumer traffic by 2012.

Gabe Ruhan, CEO of the Global Marine Group said, "Global Marine is pleased to be installing this important new telecommunications link. As a global leader of installing telecommunications systems offshore and in particular being a UK headquartered company, we, via our vessel Cable Innovator are looking forward to installing CeltixConnect next week. We congratulate Sea Fibre Networks on its vision to bring this new high speed connectivity between Ireland and the UK.

About CeltixConnect:

CeltixConnect is owned and operated by Sea Fibre Networks Limited, a privately held Irish Company, founded by an experienced team of executives with a track record of owning and operating sub-sea and terrestrial telecoms networks.

SOURCE Sea Fibre Networks