The landing station of a second broadband cable link between Ireland and North America was announced yesterday by Worldwide Telecom, a Canadian owned communications infrastructure provider.
In July Worldwide's rival Global Crossing announced the establishment of its broadband facility based in the newly opened National Digital Park at Citywest.
Worldwide will locate the landing station for its cable at the IDA industrial estate in Clonshaugh, Co Dublin. The Hibernia project, as it is called, will establish a high speed fibre optic cable system linking financial centres in north America directly to Ireland and on to European cities.
The 12,200 km cable is currently being laid under the Atlantic and will cost over $850 million. Worldwide Telecom's investment in Ireland will be $70 million.
Broadband technology allows the transmission of large amounts of digital information at very high speeds. The Hibernia project will be the first ring configured transfer cable with 1.28 terrabits per second capacity, and transfer speeds of 10 gigabits per second. This means that every Irish person could telephone abroad simultaneously and only utilise 25 per cent of the cable's capacity.
The Government hopes that, by encouraging telecommunications infrastructure, Ireland will develop as an e-commerce centre. Commenting on the announcement, the Minister for Science and Technology Mr Tracy said: "As we look forward to the growth of e-commerce it will be the availability of broadband communications that comes centre stage." The terminal station will be developed as a "tele-house and colocation centre". The tele-house will provide a secure connection site for telecommunications service providers and bulk carriers throughout Ireland.
The cable is due for completion in October of next year, and should be ready for commercial service in the first quarter of 2001.
Unlike its rival Global Crossing, Worldwide Telecom has no Government commitment to purchase capacity on the cable. The company says its plans were underway before the Government project to stimulate private sector investment in infrastructure was initiated.
Mr Scott Lyons, vice president of the parent company, Worldwide Fiber, said they were "very confident that the supply offered by Global Crossing won't meet demand". With the Government working with business to establish Ireland as an e-commerce hub, he says there are "tremendous opportunities in this area".
There is an increasing need for broadband access as more Irish companies and individuals go online, particularly with the advent of free access options. The growing complexity of Internet applications, including video and "live streaming" technology, means more space is required to carry data.
Worldwide believes its cable offers superior international access because it gives a direct link to north America, whereas Global Crossing's cable is routed through Landsend in England.
Worldwide is currently in talks with Irish telecommunications companies to sell capacity on the cable. Potential buyers include Eircom, ESAT, NTL and Ocean.
Worldwide Telecom is a wholly owned subsidiary of Worldwide Fiber, a company established by Ledcor in Canada to look after its fiber optics business. Ledcor is a multi-disciplined construction company with building interests throughout Canada and the US.
