Ventures corporation completes purchase of Hibernia Atlantic

Columbia Ventures Corporation (CVC) announced today that its subsidiaries have completed the purchase of a state-of-the-art 12,200 kilometre fibre optic submarine cable system connecting North America with Europe.

Formerly known as 360atlantic, the assets were sold pursuant to Canadian court approval as part of a reorganization plan involving 360networks. CVC has renamed the system Hibernia Atlantic.

Hibernia Atlantic is configured as a self-healing ring on diverse paths, with cable landing stations near Dublin, Liverpool, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Boston, Massachusetts.

The spacious cable landing stations in the four countries were purpose-built with redundant power and communications equipment to minimize the potential of any service disruptions. The system is currently configured to offer secure and resilient bandwidth services utilizing recent DWDM, SONET/SDH and optical switching technologies.

The system has immediate capacity up to 160 gigabits per second on each path. This is equivalent to handling 2.5 million simultaneous phone calls while also delivering 13,000 individual HDTV-quality movies. The system can be upgraded to handle a protected capacity of 1.9 terabits per second, or more than 10 times the current lit capacity.

Hibernia Atlantic is headquartered in Dublin. Patrick Coughlan, formerly with 360networks, has been appointed Managing Director and will lead a staff of senior managers with successful backgrounds in the technology sector.

The Hibernia Atlantic system offers the only direct telecommunications link between Ireland and North America as all other links currently go through the United Kingdom.

In addition to the Hibernia system, CVC has also acquired terrestrial fibre-based telecommunication capacity from 360networks which can be used to connect customers across North America.

“We are excited about our acquisition of Hibernia Atlantic,” said Ken Peterson, CVC’s Chief Executive Officer.

“This is an amazing system and can offer unparalleled value. We own 100% of the system and we look forward to competing in a very tough marketplace knowing that we operate from a very competitive cost base, but with the highest standards. Our initial emphasis will be on providing “big pipes” for traffic to and from Irish-based companies at prices significantly below their currently prevailing prices.”

Patrick Coughlan said: “While the Irish market is our initial focus, we are working hard to provide similar savings to customers across North America or in Europe who want to establish Transatlantic connections that have previously been impractical because of very high costs. Hibernia Atlantic will shortly unveil a unique and cost-effective offering for companies wishing to greatly improve their communications capability between North America and Europe. ”

“360networks is pleased to have completed this sale to CVC. We look forward to a good working relationship with CVC and intend to support their efforts to the best of our abilities. Hibernia is a great asset and should serve the carrier and enterprise market well in the coming years,” added Chris Mueller, 360networks Vice President of Finance.

CVC is a diversified, private company headquartered since 1989 in Vancouver, Washington.