Orange announced the landing of the AMITIE submarine telecommunications cable on a beach in the commune of Le Porge, near Bordeaux (Gironde).
Orange is a partner in this 6,800 km state-of-the-art cable project, which will connect the state of Massachusetts (USA), Le Porge (France) and Bude (UK). Orange will benefit from two pairs of fiber optic cables as part of this new system, offering capacity up to 23 Tbp/s each. Commissioning is scheduled for early 2022.
The beach landing in Le Porge used an innovative horizontal directional drilling technique to protect the environment.
“With this new agreement, we are yet again demonstrating our skills and expertise in transatlantic submarine cables. Against the backdrop of a boom in international traffic, the arrival of these increasingly efficient cutting-edge submarine cables, and in view of the strategic and national sovereignty issues linked to submarine cables, Orange must continue to play a leading role in the global market and develop infrastructure to connect France to other continents,” explains Jean-Luc Vuillemin, head of International Networks and Services at Orange.
Orange expands transatlantic capacity with 2 new cables
Orange announced ready-for-service status on the new Dunant cable system linking France and the United States and also unveiled for another new transatlantic cable system that could be ready as early as next year.
The Dunant cable, which is a joint project with Google, is now ready for service for its wholesale and business customers. Dunant boasts 12 fibre pairs with over 30 Tbps of capacity each.
The next submarine cable, called AMITIÉ, will take a more northerly route, linking Massachusetts to le Porge near Bordeaux. AMITIÉ will offer 16 fiber pairs of up to 23 Tbps of capacity each. Orange believes this new cable will make Bordeaux a regional connectivity hub. The French operator will supply land links for both systems from the landing station to Bordeaux and then to Paris and Lyon for one, and will offer capacity between Ashburn, the Datacentre alley and Paris, will the latest Point-to-Point optical transmission technology.
Orange will benefit from two fibre pairs on both transatlantic systems, with a total capacity of up to 100 Tbps. Orange is responsible for the French part of these two cables, as the “landing provider”, and is in charge of the operation and maintenance of the landing stations.
