Havfrue

Havfrue/AEConnect 2
Owners: Aqua Comms, Facebook, Google, Bulk Infrastructure
Landing points 1. New Jersey, United States 2. Blaabjerg, Denmark 3. Leckanvy, Republic of Ireland 4. Kristiansand, Norway
Total length	7851 km
Design capacity	108Tbps
Technology	Fiber optics

Havfrue (Mermaid) is a submarine communications cable privately owned by Aqua Comms, Meta, Google and Bulk Infrastructure, linking the United States, Ireland and Denmark.

History

Havfrue comprises a main trunk beginning in New Jersey, USA (NJFX) and landing in Blaabjerg, Denmark, which comprises six fiber pairs. Two further branches connect Ireland (Old Head Beach, Leckanvy), with six fiber pairs and Norway (Kristiansand) with two fiber pairs.[1]

The cable was laid by TE SubCom and has a designed capacity of 108 Tbit/s. The operator and landing party in the US, Ireland and Denmark is Aqua Comms, which will market and sell capacity services and raw spectrum under the brand name 'America Europe Connect-2' (AEC-2).[2][3]

Bulk Fibre Networks is utilising Ciena’s Spectrum Sharing submarine network infrastructure to provide tailored virtual fiber pairs on its part of the infrastructure, as well as Ciena's GeoMesh Extreme submarine network solution and Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) domain controller, which provides network management capabilities.[4]

The Havfrue/AEC-2 cable system was ready for service by 1 December 2020.[5]

In 2023, EXA Infrastructure added Havfrue to its transatlantic subsea cable route network connecting USA and Europe.[6]

Ownership

• Meta owns two fiber pairs on the Main Trunk and two fiber pairs on the Ireland branch.
• Aqua Comms owns two fiber pairs on the Main Trunk and four fiber pairs on the Ireland branch.
• Google owns one fiber pair on the Main Branch.
• Bulk Infrastructure owns one fiber pair on the Main Trunk and both fiber pairs on the Norway Branch.

References

1. Tanwen Dawn-Hiscox (16 January 2018). "Aqua Comms plans Havfrue, transatlantic cable network funded by Facebook, Google". Data Center Dynamics.
2. Ellen Tannam (16 January 2018). "New 'Havfrue' subsea cable to connect US to Denmark and Ireland". Silicon Republic.
3. "AEC-2: Hyperscale connectivity between the USA and Europe". Aqua Comms website.
4. "Ciena Powers Havfrue, Bulk Fiber Networks' First Submarine Cable". Business Wire. 8 February 2021.
5. "HAVFRUE/AEC-2". Submarine Networks.
6. "EXA Infrastructure announces sixth transatlantic route with addition of Amitié". Intelligent CIO Europe. Retrieved 2024-05-17.