Fibre optic cable ashore at Portrush
HIBERNIA Atlantic has completed phase one of its Project Kelvin transatlantic fibre optic cable build as the submarine cable came ashore at the West Strand in Portrush on Saturday.
The cable will connect with Hibernia Atlantic's terrestrial fibre optic ring currently being deployed to 13 towns and cities around Ireland including Coleraine as well as Armagh, Ballymena, Portadown, Strabane, Dundalk and Monaghan.
By autumn, the cable system will connect to the existing transAtlantic cable thereby directly connecting Ireland to North America and Europe.
Project Kelvin will add additional and much needed capacity to the region to further support local and global commerce, say the owners Hibernia Atlantic.
Businesses can now increase their communications and next generation internet service offering as well as increase their access to a larger marketplace of available service providers.
Welcoming the weekend's operation in Portrush, Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: "This is a historic milestone for both Northern Ireland and for Project Kelvin.
"The new cable will connect Northern Ireland, for the first time, directly to North America and greatly improve connectivity with Europe.
"When combined with the new terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure, currently under construction across Northern Ireland, it will put us at the heart of the global economy."
The Minister encouraged local companies to take advantage of the new, international cable's benefits and opportunities.
"This flagship project is one of a number of actions being taken under the Programme for Government to capitalise on Northern Ireland's world class telecommunications infrastructure.
"In these difficult economic times, telecommunications have an important role to play both in helping our companies continue to compete and in providing access to new and emerging markets in preparation for the upturn in the world economy."
Derek Bullock, Vice President of Network Operations for Hibernia Atlantic said: "The direct submarine connection between North America and Northern Ireland also guarantees secondary and back-up support, making it a very attractive offering to companies both locally and overseas, who require back-up systems to ensure their critical communications systems are up and running 100% of the time.
"The Project Kelvin will provide further local and global commerce opportunities to Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland," said Fergus Innes, Vice President of Sales in Europe for Hibernia Atlantic.
"The cable running ashore at Portrush is an exciting benchmark and a further indicator that the Hibernia team and the governments are working diligently to deliver real benefits for local and international companies seeking network bandwidth and security."
Sandy Gilkinson, the mayor of Coleraine, said: "This is a momentous occasion for Northern Ireland and for the Republic of Ireland. The cable is the first direct communications link of its kind from North America to these shores and will bring tremendous benefits and opportunities to each of the areas that have points of presence on the network.
“The sheer speed and capacity of the connection opens up a new dimension for potential inward investment, entrepreneurs and a range of businesses and I would hope that full advantage of this potential is taken up over the incoming months and years.
"Coleraine Borough Council has been pleased to facilitate Hibernia Atlantic with the landing of the submarine cable at Portrush and we wish the company every success with bringing the cable to the landing station at Coleraine and with the work that they are now carrying out to put all the connections in place.
"I would congratulate the two Governments, and particularly, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (NI) and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (ROI) on the foresight shown in planning Project Kelvin, successfully sourcing funding from the EU Interreg programme and bringing the initiative to this stage of development. We all look forward to its successful delivery and to the connection becoming live later this year."
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Weather for Coleraine
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: East
