The agreement with THUS is part of a major initiative to globally connect Iceland to other major data centres across the world such as New York, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and London. THUS will initially provide two 10x10Gbps network connections stretching from Dunnet Bay, in Northern Scotland, the landing station of the FARICE submarine cable, to London Telehouse. These connections will be used to carry data and internet traffic for FARICE customers, typically major multi-nationals who have elected to locate their data centres and servers in Iceland in order to take advantage of lower cost, ‘green’ power.
THUS will deploy a Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) solution which will not only supply the initial capacity but will have the capability to expand in the future allowing FARICE to take advantage of the full 720 Gbps of capacity available to them, as demand requires. This solution will significantly contribute to Iceland’s growing reputation and technical capabilities as a primary location for global businesses to locate mission critical back office support systems, including off-shore complex web hosting services.
Gudmundur Gunnarsson, Chief Executive Officer at FARICE, said: “As we develop the data centre and server farm industry in Iceland, we are giving businesses with burgeoning carbon footprints and data storage costs the chance to boost their green credentials while saving them money. We are investing heavily in bandwidth connections through strategically important underwater cables and backhaul networks to capitalise on our many competitive advantages. We trust THUS to deliver a future proofed network infrastructure that meets our stringent criteria for capacity, scalability and robustness using advanced, proven technologies.”
Bill Allan, Chief Executive Officer at THUS plc said: “We have a long-standing relationship with FARICE dating back to 2002 when we worked with them to provide the backhaul for the first sub-sea cable since 1962 to land in Scotland and since then, we’ve continued to work with them as bandwidth capacity demands have grown. To put this in context, the contract we’ve announced today, 200 Gbps of capacity, is enough capacity to run 3million concurrent phone calls; very few providers in the UK have a network capable of supporting such high bandwidth demands. We are delighted to be supporting FARICE to deliver the network infrastructure necessary to underpin Iceland’s evolution towards becoming the world’s leading provider of ‘green’ data centres.”