Cork data centre eyes global connections

Cork Internet eXchange said its advanced plans to link onto a high-speed transatlantic cable will make it the fastest data switching centre on the island this summer, as it eyes more sub-sea connections into Europe and eventually into Asia.

The datacentre, in Hollyhill, said it has the potential to support both new investments and existing multinational clients across Cork. It has plans for further global connections into France and into Asia.

Hibernia Networks is behind the project to connect Cork to the US with a new fast-speed cable. Its undersea ‘Project Express’ will land in Cork next month and is due to come into service through the Cork Internet eXchange in September.

Minister for Data Protection Dara Murphy said plans for new cables will underpin new investments and jobs across the region in futures years. The projects have “the potential to attract major global business opportunities for Cork, positively impacting jobs and providing Cork with the lowest latency to US and Europe which would be a unique selling point over other international regions,” he said.

A separate project designed to link Cork directly with France is being promoted by the Ireland-France Subsea Cable company. Its chairman Doug Cunningham said the cable would be the first to link Ireland directly with the continent, by-passing Britain and therefore providing hugely faster connection speeds for any centre in Ireland.

“Combined with the Hibernian Networks’ ‘Express’ connection, the Ireland-France cable would mean that Cork would become a central global IP routing station, with the US and Europe,” Mr Cunningham said.

“This major connectivity infrastructure will undoubtedly attract a number of data centres and further position the Cork region ideally for foreign direct investment.”

A third project proposes to link the Cork datacentre into Asia. Michael Cunningham, chief executive of Artic Fibre said a Tokyo-London cable could benefit Cork because the US and French cables will intersect in the city. Artic Fibre is seeking finance for the Toyko-London connection, which it hopes to complete by 2020, at the latest.

“Cork will be an intersection of some of the most significant data connectivity. The region will have an enviable global connectivity network, which has the potential to provide massive return in terms of jobs, foreign direct investment and fibre broadband,” Jerry Sweeney of Cork Internet eXchange said. “Cork Internet eXchange is planning to peer with the New York International Internet Exchange via the Express Project fibre. Cork Internet eXchange will be the best commercial data centre in the world for companies wishing to host digital assets under EU jurisdiction but requiring low latency access to the North American market,” he said.