In the context of increasing geopolitical risks and threats of marine infrastructure, the European Union initiated an ambitious project called Far North Fiber. The project aims to establish an alternative safe route for Internet cables through the Arctic region.
Climate change and the melting of Arctic ice present new opportunities for laying underwater fiber-optic communication lines. The Far North Fiber cable, with a length of 14,500 km, will connect Europe and Japan through the northwestern passage in the Arctic. The cable will have landing points in Norway, Finland, Ireland, Canada, the USA (Alaska), and Japan.
The warming in the Arctic, heating up almost four times faster than the rest of the planet, is accelerating the reduction of sea ice by about 13% every decade. These changes create possibilities for new routes for laying Internet cables along the ocean floor. These underwater highways are crucial for transmitting most of the international data traffic.
The necessity for creating new transcontinental routes became evident after recent incidents in the Baltic and Red Seas, where important communication cables were damaged. Currently, over 90% of the traffic from Europe to Asia travels along the bottom of the Red Sea.
IR Icard, a representative of Far North Digital, highlighted that the summer warming in the Arctic now allows for the laying of cables by ships, while the winter cold limits the risk of damage. After concluding marine research, the subsidiary of Nokia, Alcatel Submarine Networks, will commence the production of components. The project is anticipated to be operational by 2027, with the European Union having already invested around 23 million euros in the initiative under the CEF Digital.
Despite the shorter cable route providing lower data transfer delays, working in the Arctic may prove to be more complicated and costly. While the ice can offer protection to the cable, it can also make repairs more challenging, lasting weeks or months, depending on the season. Icarda also notes that ice drift may pose a threat, as evidenced by a recent disconnection of a connection in Alaska after ice pieces tore the fiber-optic line.
The estimated cost of the new Arctic project is approximately 1 billion euros, significantly higher than other cable routes. For comparison, a cable through the Atlantic Ocean would cost around 250 million euros, and in the Pacific Ocean, about 320 million euros.