FOCUS- Aqua Comms Newsletter
10th December 2018
We have just returned from another successful Capacity Europe event and having now been at the helm at Aqua Comms for two years. This seems like a good time to reflect on the significant updates since our last newsletter in May. This includes the latest on AEC-1, our progress on The North Atlantic Loop and our exciting collaborations with 1025Connect, DE-CIX, Epsilon and more. At Capacity Europe in London, we were delighted to host a cocktail reception at The Cutty Sark again, with our partners Epsilon and 1025Connect. With more than 500 customers and industry colleagues, it was a fantastic evening to enjoy the historic setting of one of London’s most famous and striking landmarks. The Aqua Comms team has been as busy as ever participating in over a dozen key industry events during the past few months including ITW, Subsea EMEA, Submarine Networks World, iCU Amsterdam, Capacity North America, NYNOG and Capacity Europe. To finish the quarter, our team will be at Data Centres Ireland, Denmark Digital Connectivity Hub and Subsea Americas, and then we look forward to catching up at the start of the new year at PTC in January 2019.
AEC-1
Today, AEC-1 is the core to our business and I am pleased to report that we have seen continued high demand for our existing Trans-Atlantic system and have closed orders of approximately 1Tb of capacity services since our last update, whilst delivering services in as little as 24 hours from receipt of order! This supports the industry analysts’ view that the Trans-Atlantic remains a strong growth market and shows that AEC-1 is well positioned to capture this growth and a share of existing traffic as the market continues its move to the latest 100Gb technology that AEC-1 offers. This is also testament to our FOCUS on what we do and how we fit into this marketplace:
FOCUS- Fibre Optic Cables Under the Sea
We FOCUS on: Subsea Networks and the North Atlantic market only.
We Operate as a Carriers’ Carrier; we are independent, carrier-neutral and only sell in the Wholesale space. Networks we built and own that allows us to deliver our services in as little as 24 hours.
This FOCUS makes us unique in the market and your ultimate Partner for your network needs.
Aqua Comms is the only operator in the market that offers such an approach, and I hope that this transparency and clarity of approach allows you to outsource your Trans-Atlantic network needs to us with the comfort of knowing that this is all we do and that we do this as a carriers’ carrier. We have also been busy supporting our customers and partners sharing our experiences in the everchanging dynamics of the Trans-Atlantic market. If you would like to take advantage of this, please contact info@aquacomms.com and we can set up a session with your sales teams, sales engineering, product and/or marketing teams.
The North Atlantic Loop
With regards to The North Atlantic Loop, we have made significant progress on our three new cable build projects that are due to launch in 2019:
1. AEC-2 as our part of the HAVFRUE consortium
2. CC-2 (CeltixConnect-2), our second Irish Sea cable
3. NSC (North Sea Connect), the first new technology cable to connect the UK and Scandinavia,avoiding London. The latest on AEC-2 is that the cable itself is currently being manufactured in TE Subcom’s manufacturing plant in Newington, New Hampshire, US and we continue to work on the delivery plans for launch in Q4 2019.
Regarding CC-2 and NSC, survey vessels have started mobilisation and we anticipate having detailed manufacturing plans confirmed with the already-selected contractor in the coming weeks. The new CC-2 cable will deliver enhanced resilience and capacity between Dublin and Manchester/London, and will provide open access, carrier neutral capacity to international networks for Ireland’s businesses, ISPs and telecoms operators. NSC is the first modern system providing diversity from the UK into Northern Europe avoiding London. See our recent release for more details.
The Continental Edge
We recently announced our collaboration with 1025Connect, DE-CIX, and Epsilon. Together, we have partnered to offer the first holistic solution that delivers best of breed colocation, connectivity, internet, and subsea capacity solutions – The Continental Edge: The Easternmost Direct Inter connectivity Point to the United States from Europe. You can read more on that in our recent release.
Connected Team
At Aqua Comms, our team is the beating heart of our company. In order to keep that heart pumping, we like to keep our team on its toes. Recently, the team participated in a team building event in Carlingford, a town an hour north of Dublin. The day involved the team working to solve a series of interactive challenges that tested a wide array of skills and abilities within the group, whilst using logic and lateral thinking to tackle the obscure and interesting tasks. It certainly made our day jobs seem easier!
Looking Ahead to 2019
It has certainly been an exciting and successful time for Aqua Comms and I look forward to updating you early in the New Year where 2019 promises to be another big year for Aqua Comms as we complete on three new cable builds to deliver The North Atlantic Loop. Finally, as always, our goal is nothing less than an outstanding experience for you, our customer. If you wish to send us feedback or suggestions for how we may better serve you, please get in touch.
Warm Regards
Nigel Bayliff
