Orange takes a leading role in the US to Europe route with two new generation submarine cables linking the East Coast to France

After the landing of the Dunant cable, a Google project announced back in March 2020, Orange announces it is now ready for service for its wholesale and business customers. With 12 fibre pairs with over 30 Tbps of capacity each, multiplying by three the previous generation of transatlantic submarine cables capacity. 

Orange also announces the signature of a partnership on the AMITIÉ cable planned to be ready for service at the beginning of 2022. Pending the approval from the local authorities in the US, the cable shall link Massachusetts to le Porge near Bordeaux. 

Two new generation cables to support increased bandwidth needs

The Atlantic Ocean is one of the world’s busiest routes in terms of connectivity with over 80% of internet traffic generated in France coming from the US. The traffic between North America and Europe doubles every two years on average, and this route has supported an unprecedented traffic surge during the first lockdown period of the current Covid pandemic.
Owning capacity on this route is therefore strategic to support traffic growth in the coming years, 

The AMITIE submarine cable with its 16 fiber pairs of up to 23 Tbps of capacity each, will ensure resiliency and traffic continuity on this vital and important axis. Both these cables will have more capacity than all existing systems currently in service on the transatlantic front. 

Jean-Luc Vuillemin Executive Vice President of Orange International Networks, Infrastructures and Services, said: “In the context of the explosion of international traffic, the arrival of a new generation of more efficient submarine cables, and in view of strategic issues and national sovereignty related to submarine cables, Orange continues to be a key global player. With capacity on these two cables, Orange will be able to offer the latest technology, diverse routes and the best latency to its customers once implemented.” 

Furthermore, both cables are designed to evolve at the same pace as future generations of optical transmission technology and will be able to maintain high-level performance for at least the next 20 years.

The double role of Orange: Co-investor and also supplier

Orange will benefit from two fibre pairs on both transatlantic systems, with a total capacity of up to 100 Tbit/s, which represents 15 million HD movies downloaded simultaneously. 
Orange is responsible for the French part of these two cables, as the “landing provider”, and is in charge of the operation and maintenance of the landing stations. With the arrival of a new mega cable near Bordeaux, the area will transform into a new international digital hub, fostering the implantation of new datacenters to support the region’s digital ecosystem.