Digital infrastructure provider GlobalConnect has finalised the construction of its 2,600 km super fibre cable, capable of transporting all data in the Nordics. The project is valued at 1 billion SEK and will serve as a key infrastructure route between the Nordics and mainland Europe.
GlobalConnect's Super Fiber Cable
The cable now connects Northern Sweden to Berlin, spanning three countries, marking the largest Nordic digital infrastructure initiative in a decade. With the cable constructed, GlobalConnect's fiber network now spans over 200,000 km across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Finland.
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"This cable will play a vital role in future-proofing and strengthening the digital infrastructure in Northern Europe. It provides increased robustness with diverse options to route traffic, resulting in improved national security in our region," said GlobalConnect.
'The improved digital infrastructure is also a key factor in attracting global tech companies, as the Nordics are currently a global hotspot for tech investments, with approximately half of all data center investments in Europe expected to go to the Nordics in the coming years."
GlobalConnect said the fiber cable runs from Sweden to Denmark and from Denmark to Germany, including 700 km of subsea cables with the island of Bornholm acting as the digital gateway between the Nordics and Europe.
Strengthening Digital Infrastructure
The construction of the super cable has taken several years and includes heavy trenching in the northern parts of Sweden, facing the harsh winter storms of the Baltic Sea, trenching the seabed with a submarine, and using massive drills to create landing points on several beachheads.
To make room for the landing site in Germany, more than 200 bombs from WW2 had to be removed from the Baltic Sea, and 1,300 sq km was scanned for potential archaeological findings, GlobalConnect added.
"This project is a massive achievement and a key enabler for future digitalization. There is an ever-increasing demand for fiber in the Nordics. Most of the digital infrastructure between Sweden and Germany is 20 years old, and the few existing cables have a limited number of fibers available for new demand," GlobalConnect stated.
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Reportedly, the cable will bring a capacity upgrade critical to meeting the current and future capacity demand generated by AI while strengthening the digital connections between Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Europe.
The cable consists of 96 fiber pairs and has the capacity to transport all data in the Nordics, equivalent to 3,052 Tbps.
The cable between Bornholm and Sassnitz has now been merged on the seabed, and tests will be conducted before the cables’ full capacity is put into use in Q1 of 2024.
