Farice awards SubCom contract for IRIS subsea cable
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Farice awards SubCom contract for IRIS subsea cable

IRIS subsea cable 16.9.jpg

SubCom and Farice ehf confirms that contract is in force for the supply and installation of IRIS, a new subsea cable system connecting Iceland and Ireland.

Wholly owned by the Icelandic Government, Farice is an international connectivity provider that currently owns and operates two subsea cable systems that connect Iceland to Europe – FARICE-1 and DANICE. The third, soon-to-be-launched IRIS system will deliver added diversity to support the continued growth of Iceland’s modern community and international business environment.


“We are pleased to announce the contract in force for the IRIS undersea cable system, which we believe is an essential step for both the safety and security of Iceland. The system will also provide a new low latency connection between Iceland and Dublin that will bring Iceland closer to one of the key network hubs in Europe. In essence, the system will be a digital bridge between Iceland and Ireland and could, as such, advance the use of green energy in Iceland for international digital processing needs,” said Thorvardur Sveinsson, CEO of Farice.

“Through our new IRIS system and existing DANICE system, a new North Atlantic Network route connecting Ireland, Iceland and Denmark is open. Having worked in partnership with SubCom to deploy one of our existing cable systems, we are confident in their design, manufacturing and installation capabilities and look forward to completing this highly impactful project.”

Spanning 1,750km in length, IRIS will feature a six-fibre pair trunk with a total system capacity of 108Tbps with each fibre pair delivering 18Tbps. Specifically, IRIS will connect the south west of Iceland to Ballyloughane Strand in Galway, Ireland.

Farice has already completed the project desktop survey, as well as the marine survey work on Ireland’s continental shelf and the remaining survey works to Iceland will completed at some point later this year.

The cable and its equipment will be manufactured at SubCom’s manufacturing headquarters in the US between 2021 and into early 2022. The main lay installation operations are due to take placed in the summer 2022, with an RFS date of the end of 2022.

“It is an honor to once again partner with Farice to supply a high-speed, high-capacity undersea cable system on behalf of the government and citizenry of Iceland,” said David Coughlan, CEO of SubCom.

“Our experience in the region and commitment to delivering advanced systems on-time and on-budget will continue to benefit Farice as we move forward.”

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