Arctic Fibre will begin physical landing site surveys to bring its 40G broadband submarine cable into eight sites in northern Canada starting in mid-August. And the company is seeking help and guidance from parties as diverse as town elders and local hunters to determine the best places to bring ashore its cable.
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Arctic Fibre's planned subsea cable route across northern Canada. |
The site selection process will involve representatives from the company and leaders in 14 communities where the lines could potentially come ashore. Landing site locations must be finalized so Arctic Fibre can refine its undersea routes and begin detailed marine studies later this year as part of a $620 million submarine backbone network between London and Tokyo that the company plans to light in December 2015.
Designed for financial institutions on the two continents, the northern Canada landings would be a branch of the backbone designed for both commercial and residential service.
The company has "undertaken extensive desktop marine and terrestrial surveys which reflect the normal cable landing factors such as tides, currents, seabed conditions and proximity to terrestrial telecom facilities," Arctic Fibre CEO Douglas Cunningham said in a press release.
Now the company wants to resolve details of how the landings will affect the local communities.
"We want the benefit of the local communities' expertise with regard to ice conditions and the most suitable location away from anchorages and any environmentally sensitive areas and habitat," Cunningham explained. "That's why we will be holding consultative meetings in each community as well as physically examining the various landing site options and alternative routings across the Boothia Peninsula from Taloyoak to Lord Mayor Bay."
The community meetings will include elders, hamlet mayors and council members along with community and land resource committee members, local hunters and the general public.
"Potential subcontractors for civil works will also have an opportunity to present their credential to the Arctic Fibre team who are committed to creating as much local participation as possible," said Madeleine Redfern, president of Ajungi Arctic Consulting.
The land surveys are part of a plan to provide "virtually unlimited bandwidth" to the combined Nunavut and Nunvik population in northern Canada, starting with building an Arctic broadband network off the transcontinental link between Asian and European financial centers.
It's not all submarine or even terrestrial. In February, Artic Fibre proposed using nine microwave hops to extend broadband service to 23 additional communities.
For more:
- Arctic Fibre issued this press release
Special Report: Submarine cable operators hunt new routes; counter congestion political turmoil
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