- IOEMA-1 connects five nations through a high-capacity underwater infrastructure network
- The APTelecom partnership strengthens the commercial strategy for cable deployment in northern Europe
- The European Union classifies IOEMA-1 as a strategic digital infrastructure project
European consortium IOEMA 1 Holding has announced a strategic partnership with advisory firm APTelecom to advance a petabit-class submarine cable system.
This planned network of 24 fiber pairs spans approximately 1,600 kilometers across five northern European countries and aims to connect digital hubs in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom.
The consortium expects this submarine cable system to be ready to enter service during the first quarter of 2029.
Japanese corporations NEC and NTT have already successfully tested a revolutionary submarine cable technology using 12-core multicore fiber, which includes twelve optical signal transmission paths within a standard outer diameter optical fiber.
Existing submarine cables are typically based on single-core fiber with a single transmission path.
The Japanese team transmitted hundreds of terabits over a staggering distance of 7,280 kilometers, with a sophisticated algorithm that solved the interference problem known as crosstalk between neighboring cores.
NEC developed a demodulation algorithm using MIMO technology to accurately separate overlapping signals, and NTT simultaneously created a coupled multi-core fiber transmission line that manages signal delay non-uniformity.
Similarly, Meta is building underwater infrastructure around the world to move information for billions of daily users.
The company employs submarine cable systems engineers who work end-to-end on these massive projects.
His responsibilities span capacity planning, route design, ocean studies, manufacturing oversight and deployment strategy.
Today, more than 95% of intercontinental Internet traffic is carried over submarine cable systems, and reliability is not optional for a company operating on Meta’s enormous scale.
The company is carrying out the Waterworth Project, which would become the world’s longest undersea cable system.
Each of these efforts faces different technical and financial obstacles on its own timeline.
Japanese technology has been successfully demonstrated, but full commercial deployment has yet to be tested at scale, and European infrastructure projects often face regulatory delays that push planned dates back years beyond initial estimates.
Meta has not publicly committed to a specific completion date or petabit capacity for Waterworth.
The explosion in demand for AI bandwidth is real and pressing for operators; However, submarine cables typically take five to seven years from planning to actual underwater operation.
Development of submarine cables
The European Union has recognized this cable as a project of European interest within the framework of its Connecting Europe Mechanism.
“Partnering with APTelecom brings additional deep expertise and broad market access at an important time in IOEMA’s development of our first cable system, IOEMA-1,” said Andrew Parsons, chief commercial and strategy officer at IOEMA.
APTelecom states that it will provide advisory experience in operator contracting, infrastructure strategy and market strategy.
“IOEMA-1 is a strategically important project that addresses the growing demand for high-capacity, resilient connectivity across Northern Europe,” said Sean Bergin, President of APTelecom.
“We are excited to support the team to engage in the market and drive the project towards successful delivery.
Through subcables
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