New Wave Media

 

TE SubCom has completed the route survey and begun manufacture of the system at its facility in Newington, New Hampshire. The parties are on track to begin laying cable using TE SubCom’s state-of-the-art cable installation ships next year, with a scheduled completion date of October 2017.

 

As announced by Facebook and Microsoft in May 2016, MAREA will be the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic – featuring eight fiber-pairs and an initial estimated design capacity of 160 Terabits/sec. The new 6,600 km submarine cable system will connect the United States to southern Europe: from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Bilbao, Spain. This new southern route will provide greater diversity of connections and enhanced reliability for customers, as well as optimal connectivity to data centers on the East Coast of the United States.

 

Led by Facebook and Microsoft, TE SubCom is constructing MAREA to be interoperable with a wide variety of network equipment. This new “open” design brings significant benefits for customers: lower costs and easier equipment upgrades, which lead to faster growth in the speed of communications for users since the system can evolve at the pace of optical technology innovation.

 

“TE SubCom strives to provide customers with the highest standards of design, manufacture, and system installation,” said Aaron Stucki, president of TE SubCom. “Being named the installation partner for the ground-breaking MAREA cable system further strengthens our position as a leading supplier of the world’s most reliable fiber optic cable systems. We look forward to working with Microsoft and Facebook on what will be a highly advanced and scalable new system.”

 

“This is one example of how Microsoft collaborates with industry leaders to drive innovation and build the next generation infrastructure of the internet. MAREA will offer better connections to users in Europe and beyond.” said Frank Rey, director, global network acquisition, Microsoft Corp.