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Interconnections & the Escape From New York

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Interconnections & the Escape From New York

Gil Santaliz

CEO

See the original article by Carol Wilson here at Light Reading

July 22, 2022

CHICAGO – International Telecoms Week – “Escape from New York” seems to be an emerging theme at this massive event, where global wholesalers, subsea cable operators, data center and interconnect companies and network operators alike all meet to do business. Increasingly, that business is purposefully moving out of Manhattan, where once large carrier hotels like 60 Hudson dominated the landscape.

According to multiple sources here, cloud providers, carriers and enterprises alike are looking for diversity and the ability to avoid the vulnerability of taking the bulk of their traffic into the Big City.

Telecom Italia Sparkle , the international service arm of Italy’s TIM Group, today announced a “wet” fiber connecting the New Jersey Fiber Exchange (NJFX)directly to Boca Raton, Fla., from where it can offer direct connections to the Caribbean or South America, as well as the Equinix NAP of the Americas in Miami, a major interconnection point. A much smaller interconnection and colocation operator, 1025Connect , is here touting its Long Island-based facilities which next week will formally host DE-CIX Management GmbH , the Internet exchange company that is based in Frankfort, Germany, but is now boasting the highest number of North American access points, and will gain access to 160 networks with this move.

“What people are trying to do is avoid pinch points, and New York City is a pinch point,” says Gil Santaliz, founder and CEO of NJFX. What Sparkle is doing is repurposing a subsea cable it acquired with about eight terabits of capacity by connecting it to NJFX and terminating the fiber at Boca Raton, Fla., he explains. From either of those spots, traffic can go to New York and Miami, but it can also avoid those pinch points and go anywhere else including, on the southern end, to the Caribbean and South America.

“If there are two buildings in the US you don’t want to lose today, it’s NAP of the Americas and 60 Hudson St.,” Santaliz says in an interview here. “If you lose one or both of those buildings, it’s pretty catastrophic for the US and the communications industry. [Sparkle] just solved that problem.” Two other industry trends — carrier consolidation and the cloud explosion — factor into this deal as well, he notes. The former has reduced the number of operators building and running physical facilities along the I-95 corridor between New York and Miami, while the latter has reshaped where network traffic is going, making data center interconnection the priority.

“Ashburn [Va., an Internet and data center hotbed] didn’t exist 20 years ago when most of today’s fiber routes were put in,” he notes.

Subsea connections weren’t considered a cost-effective approach to handling telecom traffic when that major fiber buildout occurred, Santaliz notes, but the combination of the bandwidth boom and technology advancements is changing that.

Companies such as Crosslake Fibre are capitalizing on this trend by offering connections between Toronto and Buffalo that are partially subsea, and also connections between NJFX in Wall, NJ and the 1025 Connect facility in Westbury, NY.

Dan Lunde, managing director of 1025 Connect, notes that his company is more of “boutique carrier hotel” and much smaller than NJFX, but it is still capitalizing on the same trend of carriers looking for connections, especially to subsea cables, that don’t require dependence on Manhattan-based carrier hotels. 1025 Connect provides direct submarine cable access to six different transatlantic cable systems in its facility and five different Manhattan bypass fiber routes including those operated by Altice and Lightower.

“People want to connect in different places,” Lunde says in an interview. “They are looking for diversity. In our case, they can come from Europe, hit our facility and then go down to [NJFX] and avoid Manhattan entirely.”

DE-CIX is already selling Internet connectivity based on its 1025 Connect facilities, he says, offering connections to 160-plus networks in the New York metro area but also the ability to bypass Manhattan using — potentially — the Altice fiber route through 360 Hamilton Ave., in White Plains, NY, or the Cross Sound Cable System to New Haven, Conn.

Being based on Long Island also lets 1025 Connect offer lower-cost interconnection which Lunde says it enhances by charging only for space and power and not layering on multiple fees for cross-connections or point-of-entry. He calls it the “Stone Soup” approach to interconnection.

“We think that economically it makes more sense as well in terms of redundancy,” Lunde says.

— Carol Wilson, Editor-at-Large, Light Reading

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About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

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Telecom Re-Imagined: Sparkle’s Innovative Subsea Solution w/ Support of NJFX

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Telecom Re-Imagined: Sparkle’s Innovative Subsea Solution w/ Support of NJFX

Ryan Imkemeier Explains the Importance of Equipment Maintenance, Vendor Relationships, Electrical Distribution & Managing the Team

May 7, 2018

Bandwidth demand is on the rise in the Latin American market as more people look to communicate both in the region, as well as connect to the rest of the world. LATAM is also leading the globe with over $1.5 billion of new subsea cable investment in 2017 and 2018. The population continues to benefit from access to fast broadband infrastructure.  All of this activity makes for a lot of potential in the region for carriers, service providers, OTTs and enterprises to develop revenue growth and drive even more enhanced capabilities for the area. Sparkle is at the heart of this growth.

The company has invested in half of the Seabras-1 subsea cable – three out of the six dark fiber pairs – connecting New York to Brazil, and in doing so has developed a closed ring that has created diverse routes and secure, high capacity networks to meet this exponential bandwidth demand. What’s more, the routes bypass two huge, single points of failure: New York and Miami.

This application is supported of out of NJFX, the first and only colocation campus to sit at a cable landing station in the U.S and offer Tier 3, carrier neutral data center capabilities. According to Founder and CEO, Gil Santaliz, “Sparkle solved a problem that’s plagued the industry for more than 10 years. The company now offers a complete, diverse wet route all the way down to Miami. Now someone in Ashburn, VA can reach the Caribbean without going through Manhattan. The company has also found a way to get to the Caribbean and South America and bypass Miami and New York – completely avoiding two traditional pain points.”

Through Seabras-1 and the backhaul extensions from cable landing stations to main PoPs across North America and South America, Sparkle provides easy onward connectivity to the rest of world. The main advantages for Sparkle’s customers using its Seabras-1 fibers include lower latency on the US-Brazil route, which has been developed on a path completely off the hurricane risk area.

In addition to Seabras-1, Sparkle saw an opportunity to invest in a submarine cable to offer diverse routes via Florida and the Caribbean. Dark fiber on the cable was purchased and lit. “We needed a solution to connect this cable to Miami. We looked at many terrestrial solutions and nearly the whole environment options were not of high quality, so we decided on this underused submarine cable that runs from Tuckerton, NJ to Boca Raton, FL,” noted Federico Porri, CTO for Sparkle Americas. The result is a complete, diverse connection from New Jersey all the way to Sao Paolo with many secure, reliable route options and off-shoots along the way.

Solving Telecom Pain Point via Diverse, Wet Route

Sparkle studied the options carefully before determining subsea was the way to go.  One thing the company noticed that new terrestrial fiber projects from Atlanta going south – for various reasons – were not being completed.

Sparkle works with backhaul providers at NJFX’s colocation campus, offering a unique architecture, low latency options and secure connectivity. Customers can bypass the congested NYC metro area via Sparkle’s capacity at the NJFX campus, which resides at the Cable Landing Station in Wall, New Jersey – offering a diverse route and alternatives for disaster recovery planning. Fully integrated with Sparkle’s global backbone, the new route enables customers major benefits from lower latency to added diversity.

LATAM’S New Superhighway

The solution has been extremely well accepted by the wholesale community. With Latin America’s position as a hotbed of expansion amid improving mobile network capabilities and Internet options, growth is inevitable in this sector. “It’s like when you build a new highway,” stated Porri, “the restaurant on the way from point A to point B will see business grow as well.”

The capacity on the system will far exceed anything from older subsea infrastructure, with up to 7 terabits of total capacity and 800Gig ready at RFS. Latency is about 10 milliseconds faster than standard terrestrial routes, making it attractive for enterprises, financial firms, OTTs and carriers.

“Innovative leaders in the industry are finding ways to create something important and reinvent the way we do things. It takes a lot of creativity and that is how we will make our technology work in the future,” concludes Santaliz.

*******

About Sparkle

Sparkle is TIM Group’s fully owned Global Operator and among top #10 international service providers worldwide, with a proprietary backbone of around 530,000 km of fiber spanning from Europe to Africa, the Americas and Asia. Leveraging its global IP, Data, Cloud, Data Center, Mobile Data and Voice Platforms, Sparkle offers a full range of ICT solutions to Internet Service Providers, OTTs, Media and Content Players, Application Service Providers, Fixed and Mobile operators as well as Multinational Enterprises. Its sales force is active worldwide and distributed over 36 countries.

Find out more about Sparkle at www.tisparkle.com

###

About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

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Telecom Re-Imagined: Sparkle’s Innovative Subsea Solution w/ Support of NJFX Read More »

Zayo & NJFX: The Fast Path to Global Financial Markets

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Zayo & NJFX: The Fast Path to Global Financial Markets

Zayo’s Low-Latency Connectivity Extends to Financial Liquidity Centers in Europe, South America and Asia

See the original article on Zayo’s official website here

July 22, 2022

Spread Networks by Zayo can now offer low-latency connectivity from the U.S. to key financial centers in Europe, South America and Asia. Zayo has established a point of presence in the NJFX Tier 3 data center in Wall Township, N.J., providing direct access to the subsea cable systems and local fiber providers that terminate in the data center.

The new and strengthened global capability further demonstrates our commitment to the Spread Networks by Zayo product, providing low-latency, global trading solutions for customers in the financial sector. Spread Network’s flagship route offers the lowest latency and direct high-count fiber route between New York and Chicago. When combined with Zayo’s existing fiber routes, for coast-to-coast, low-latency dark fiber and lit fiber-based solutions, financial firms, as well as content, media and cloud providers, benefit from the low-latency, coast-to-coast network.

Most providers offer only a single segment of the global low-latency footprint. With the NJFX relationship, Zayo has the ability to provide an end-to-end solution tying financial exchanges in South America and Europe all the way to Asia. The solution combines Spread’s low-latency, on-net and partner connectivity with Zayo’s existing fiber footprint in the NY financial corridor and west from Chicago to Tokyo.

“Our vision is to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for customers who want to trade globally, alleviating the need to work with different vendors in each region they are operating,” said Brandon Gouin, general manager of Spread Networks by Zayo. “The expanded global capability extends and strengthens our unique value proposition in the financial marketplace.”

Spread Networks by Zayo is evaluating other low-latency opportunities, both fiber and microwave, to provide customers with additional options for the fastest, most reliable routes available across established and emerging markets globally.

“Our vision is to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for customers who want to trade globally, alleviating the need to work with different vendors in each region they are operating. The expanded global capability extends and strengthens our unique value proposition in the financial marketplace.”

NJFX is the only Tier-3 Cable Landing Station colocation campus in the U.S., with access to low-latency connectivity to the U.S., South America, Europe and Asia via multiple subsea cable providers. NJFX connects to more than one million route miles, both subsea and terrestrial, and more than one million square feet of data center space across 200+ countries and territories.

For more information about Spread Networks by Zayo, visit our website, or meet us at The Trading Show in Chicago to learn how Zayo can power your global trading strategy.

###

About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

Latest News & Updates

Stay informed with the latest press releases, industry news, and more.

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Zayo & NJFX: The Fast Path to Global Financial Markets Read More »

Epsilon to Host Webinar on Serving Next-Gen Enterprise Cloud Demand

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Epsilon to Host Webinar on Serving Next-Gen Enterprise Cloud Demand

Leading network service provider and NJFX to discuss the growing forces that are creating a shift in networking service models, whilst illustrating the business case for SDN and API interoperability

See the original article here at Businesswire

April 17, 2018

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Epsilon®, a privately owned global communications service provider, today announced that it will be hosting a webinar entitled “Serving Next-Gen Enterprise Cloud Demand with Software Defined Networking” on Tuesday, April 24, at 10am ET. This webinar is exclusive to the industry analyst community and will focus on the evolving needs of the data center as applications including artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT and more are driving the always-on, connected world that we live in. With the global transformations that these applications promise to deliver, the connectivity model must also adapt in order to not stifle innovation.

“At Epsilon, we are working to proactively meet our customers’ connectivity needs, in partnership with data centers like NJFX. This webinar will allow both Epsilon and NJFX to have an open dialogue with the analyst community about the best way to address these needs.”

Epsilon is a cloud-centric network service provider, extending carrier grade connectivity services to communications and cloud ecosystems. The company offers networking capabilities that combine on-demand infrastructure, automation, web-based portals and APIs designed to enable global connectivity.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from Epsilon co-founder and chief executive officer, Jerzy Szlosarek, on the growing forces that are cultivating the shift in networking service models, whilst illustrating the business case for Software Defined Networking (SDN) and API interoperability that will serve the evolved enterprise networking needs. Gil Santaliz, CEO of NJFX—operating the only U.S. Tier 3 data center located at a Cable Landing Station (CLS)—will also participate in the webinar discussing how the two operators are working together.

“Emerging technology is forcing enterprises to reevaluate how they manage, support and store these applications. As a result, the data center industry must evolve to not only meet its customer’s current application and connectivity needs, but also those needs that have yet to be realized as technology continues to advance,” said Jerzy Szlosarek, CEO, Epsilon. “At Epsilon, we are working to proactively meet our customers’ connectivity needs, in partnership with data centers like NJFX. This webinar will allow both Epsilon and NJFX to have an open dialogue with the analyst community about the best way to address these needs.”

The webinar will be held on Tuesday, April 24, at 10am ET, and is exclusive to the analyst community. Registration is now open and can be accessed here.

About Epsilon

Epsilon is a global Cloud Centric Network service provider, extending carrier grade connectivity services to the world’s Communications and Cloud ecosystems. The company offers smart networking capabilities that combine on demand infrastructure, automation, web-based portals and APIs to give partners friction-free access to global connectivity.

All Epsilon services are powered by a next generation hyper-scalable global backbone which connects all the leading telecoms hubs globally. Across this fabric encompasses a dense ecosystem of carriers, service operators and cloud providers offering the leading interconnect point for a diverse set of network and connectivity requirements. For more information, please visit www.epsilontel.com.

Contacts

Witz Communications
Jas McDonald, 919-356-7059
[email protected]

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About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

Latest News & Updates

Stay informed with the latest press releases, industry news, and more.

Explore More

Epsilon to Host Webinar on Serving Next-Gen Enterprise Cloud Demand Read More »

NJFX CEO: “The Revolution Continues”

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NJFX CEO: “The Revolution Continues”

See the original article here at SubCable World

March 8, 2018

Editor’s Note: I recently had the opportunity to interview Gil Santaliz, CEO of NJFX. Gil is one of the new breed of professionals that is taking the submarine fiber optic cable industry in a different direction to meet the needs of a changing landscape; in NJFX’s case by bringing together submarine cables, cable stations, data centers and terrestrial fiber networks in an open environment. The following are Gil’s comments on how the industry has changed and where it is headed in the future.

There are a couple of things that are happening right now. First, the cables that were put in play around the year 2000 had a 20-year life. When they were built, many used the consortium model. So the providers that jumped into those systems had a lot of capex and a commitment to run those cables for a specific period of time. What’s happened is that those cables have now gotten to a point in their lifespan where the O&M exceeds the true cost of the cables – in terms of what they can charge for capacity on those cables.

I was speaking to members of one consortium whose cable was built at the turn of the century and the costs for keeping that cable working are twice what it would cost to buy the same amount of capacity on the new Aqua Comms cable (HAVFRUE).

Then you have these new players, the OTTs (over-the-top content providers), who are saying, “I can’t allow the telecom industry to hold me hostage under rules that limit my ability to scale. I’m going to lead the way. I’m going to get in front of the economics and I’m going to drive these new projects.” And that’s how you see Facebook, Google, Microsoft and others playing active roles in these new cables with a handful of selected carriers. Not everyone gets to play, only a few get to play this time.

Going forward you will find certain carriers will have economics that are much different than the rest of the pack. Those that have the right economics are going to be the leading carriers when it comes to those cables going forward; the rest are going to have to buy from those that have the access to those cables.

And because the cables now have capacity that is so much greater, we might see less deployment in Round 2 than the first time through, which means you’re going to have a bunch of carriers really lagging if they are not part of the projects.

There are a couple of important dynamics in the industry. This industry started with companies having monopolies. That’s the genesis of telecommunications – we began with the PTTs (Posts, Telecommunications and Telegraph) for countries that were basically given a monopoly for the territory. Everything evolved from that environment to an environment of deregulation where you had open competition, but inevitably, those that had the most assets still won. So as the system still benefitted the larger players, it was hard for the small guys to come in and compete. Now you have new kids on the block who don’t want to be held hostage with their application because some still have ingrained the monopolistic views and create price protection by, for example, picking systems that only a few providers have and have pricing set by one incumbent for the backhaul for them.

They’re saying “no, no, no!” This is an open marketplace with economics not only for the carriers but also for the guys who make the Internet work, and that’s the OTTs. So what we’re seeing is this revolution continue with new players coming in and pushing hard on the old guard and saying, “If you don’t play with me, you’re not in the game because I’m going to front these new projects and I’m going to pick the best operators to work with. Those that I know are reliable, that are willing to be open with me and we’re going to change the landscape of how these cables interconnect continents.”

One of the things that NJFX is proud of is to be a part of this new open architecture. Our cable landing station campus is not owned by a carrier. We don’t care how these guys interact in an open marketplace. This allows for a monopolistic view to go away. We allow competitive carriers to figure out price discovery on their own. We allow best of breed providers to interact with those on the submarine network and applications will flourish.

So the difference is an open marketplace. You have a new guard now, and the old guard is trying to figure out what it’s going to become because when you have a monopolistic business, you’re allowing for a lot of inefficiencies that are now being streamlined out of the process.

This is a changing environment, it’s a revolution we’re seeing in front of our eyes. The subsea telecom world changing. The landing points changing. And it’s more predictable than you think. If you sit down with Telegeography and look at all the cables that have been deployed in the past 20 years, you might want to guess the next cable announcement coming out.

###

About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

More In the News

The North Atlantic Loop

July 23, 2020 No Comments

The North Atlantic Loop Published by SubTelForum on July 22, 2020 July 23, 2020 Aqua Comms, the independent carriers’ carrier and the owner-operator of five subsea cables

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NJFX CEO: “The Revolution Continues” Read More »

The Big Benefits of Carrier-Neutral Cable Landing Stations

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The Big Benefits of Carrier-Neutral Cable Landing Stations

Gil Santaliz, Founder and CEO of NJFX and Mike Hollands, Director, Market Development & Strategy at Interxion look at the importance of carrier neutral facilities in today’s competetive subsea cabling sector

Gil Santaliz

CEO

See the original article by Chris Kelly at Total Telecom

February 14, 2018

The landscape of today’s Cable Landing Stations and their role are rapidly changing. Gil Santaliz, Founder and CEO of NJFX, believes the future of Cable Landing Stations lies within building a community where a healthy density of diverse networks is created and attracts other infrastructure development.  Along with that, a carrier-neutral facility is ideal.  “A carrier-neutral facility allows carriers to collaborate in an independent environment, each on an even playing field,” states Santaliz.

Mike Hollands, Director, Market Development & Strategy at Interxion echoes those sentiments, “A submarine cable that terminates in a carrier-neutral data centre secures commercial and operational benefits for the cable’s owners and consortium members.  From a commercial perspective, the carrier-neutral data centre operator ensures a level playing field for all parties, removing the high commercial costs often associated with cable landing stations that are owned by one specific carrier,” Hollands adds.

There is a definite need for networks to interconnect, and the benefits of carrier-neutral facilities are clear. Operationally, because the carrier-neutral facility is home to multiple networks, content providers and service providers, the process of establishing cross connects to partners is more efficient.  The connections themselves are more resilient as they are delivered within the security of the data centre itself. Carrier-neutral facilities increase the likelihood that any submarine cable project will be a success.

Massive bandwidth demands and the need for highly reliable network infrastructure are driving the need to locate multiple subsea cable systems in one place. “There are huge economies of scale in this model,” states Santaliz. “Operators are recognizing that it’s extremely hard to have all of these elements – elevation, backhaul optionality, and power in one place. A carrier-neutral CLS allows for a best of breed community versus the traditional monopoly carrier landlord model and paves the way for the new economy.”

This infrastructure allows for the ultimate in network reliability by having multiple options to leave a cable landing station. In the U.S., NJFX has taken on this model. In Europe, Interxion is using this model. There are others working to replicate this around the world. But to be a true carrier-neutral facility, and to play a significant role in the development of the submarine cable sector, there is criteria that needs to be met. “Firstly, the data centre must operate in a deregulated market, enabling vibrant competition between service providers that can connect the data centre to other key locations,” states Hollands. “Secondly the datacenter must develop a community of clients within the facility that value proximity to the submarine cable landing point. These clients need Tier 3+ data centres with the ability to handle growth in IT infrastructure deployments over the long term.  Interxion Marseille, and NJFX are examples of data centres that fulfil these criteria, and hence have become the interconnection points for multiple submarine cable systems.”

Security is also of utmost importance to the carriers who interconnect at these facilities.  Security is taken very seriously by both Santaliz and Hollands. And the industry addresses the issue very well.  Multiple systems are often built by submarine cable operators between key destinations, not just to manage capacity demand, but also to provide carriers and content providers with route diversity.  The intention is to have an underlying base of diverse routes upon which carriers and content providers can build resilient networks that divert traffic from one system to another in the event a system is subjected to accidental or deliberate damage.

“The increasing trend to terminate submarine cable systems in Carrier Neutral data centres, with all the data centres’ inherent layers of physical security, is more evidence of the operator’s focus on security,” states Hollands.

”Being an operator is a privilege and a process in the United States.  It’s taken seriously and supported by all the government agencies involved, including the Department of Homeland Security. Global infrastructure is something the U.S. pays a lot of attention to,” adds Santaliz. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated NJFX Protected Critical Infrastructure.

The significance of a carrier-neutral facility, within a healthy community that has access to diverse routes, resilient systems and tight security, is going to be front and center as the cable building accelerates to meet the huge increases in traffic flows between continents.

###

About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

More In the News

The North Atlantic Loop

July 23, 2020 No Comments

The North Atlantic Loop Published by SubTelForum on July 22, 2020 July 23, 2020 Aqua Comms, the independent carriers’ carrier and the owner-operator of five subsea cables

Read More »
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The Big Benefits of Carrier-Neutral Cable Landing Stations Read More »

Why subsea cables are crucial for our connected future

Newsroom /

Why subsea cables are crucial for our connected future

Subsea infrastructure is only going to increase in importance as demand continues to leap.

See the original article by Ellen Tannam at Silicon Republic

July 22, 2022

The world is becoming an increasingly connected, always-on place and, while much is made of the scale of communication it enables, the infrastructure that props up this technological revolution is often less of a focus.

Subsea cables – a vital cornerstone

Subsea infrastructure is one of the key enablers for the international network interconnections enabling all of our connected devices.

The Havfrue cable is a subsea fibre-optic system that will connect New Jersey, Ireland and Denmark. A collaboration between Google, Aqua Comms, New-Jersey-based colocation firm NJFX, Facebook and others, the Havfrue cable will build major global capacity.

Siliconrepublic.com spoke to NJFX founder and CEO, Gil Santaliz, about the future of subsea infrastructure.

How is the subsea landscape being revolutionised by big-data demands?

We’re seeing investment at record levels, similar to pre-2000 levels, for subsea networks. We’ve never seen this type of investment before in subsea cables. Google just shared that they spent $30bn on subsea systems alone.

How is NJFX going to be crucial to the Google subsea cable project?

NJFX has created an opportunity for any subsea system to have a place to land that is carrier-neutral, with hardened security, reliable power and access to a multitude of US carriers to provide connectivity across North America.

Can you comment on how communications technology has evolved during your time in the industry?

When I started, we were paying a quarter a minute for a long-distance call; you had pay phones for when we weren’t at home.

The average price of 2Mb between US and Mexico was $37,000 a month. Now, you get 100GB for $10,000 a month. So, for one-third of the cost, you get 5,000 times the capacity.

What trends do you foresee in the future for subsea cables and global connectivity as a whole?

The new capacity all coming online is going to stimulate innovation like we haven’t seen before. Whenever you allow engineers the ability to collaborate with unlimited internet capacity, you allow for innovation.

You see new things come to the marketplace because an engineer’s capacity is limitless. You’re going to see applications, some which may be invented in United States and used in other parts of world. You can test or try things not in the geographical location you are in.

How will these benefits affect the average consumer and/or business?

Our society continues to move towards more efficient ways of doing things we’ve always done. I think mobile apps and artificial intelligence are going to be the two things we’re going to see come together.

Mobile apps collect information about human behaviour continuously. They allow us to mine data and create predictable outcomes in many areas in the future.

How is the internet of things (IoT) changing connectivity demands?

IoT devices are humans that don’t sleep. They constantly need info; they are constantly learning and constantly delivering. The dynamic of IoT makes the internet have to triple the bandwidth requirements to support it. Humans are offline at least several hours a day to sleep. IoT devices are never offline.

They are cameras, thermostats, monitoring devices that are constantly interacting. We used to see peak internet demand times after school or work, for example. It’s not the case any more – now, everything is in use constantly. These machines never have to work, eat or sleep.

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About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

More In the News

The North Atlantic Loop

July 23, 2020 No Comments

The North Atlantic Loop Published by SubTelForum on July 22, 2020 July 23, 2020 Aqua Comms, the independent carriers’ carrier and the owner-operator of five subsea cables

Read More »
Explore More

Why subsea cables are crucial for our connected future Read More »

NJFX’s CEO Gil Santaliz to Speak on a Keynote Panel at Submarine Networks World Europe Conference

Newsroom /

NJFX’s CEO Gil Santaliz to Speak on a Keynote Panel at Submarine Networks World Europe Conference

Ryan Imkemeier Explains the Importance of Equipment Maintenance, Vendor Relationships, Electrical Distribution & Managing the Team

Gil Santaliz

CEO

February 6, 2018

WALL, NJ –  NJFX, the first and only colocation campus to sit at a cable landing station in the U.S and offer Tier 3, carrier neutral data center capabilities, announces its CEO, Gil Santaliz will be a keynote speaker at the Submarine Networks World Europe 2018 conference to be held in London, UK February 20 – 21, 2018.  Santaliz with join other industry experts on the keynote panel entitled ‘The Evolution of the Subsea Industry.’ The panel will discuss the changing subsea cable business models, demand drivers, and how new technologies such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and cloud are changing the industry.

As North America’s preeminent international hub for subsea communications, NJFX serves as the interconnection for many international carriers with multiple predictable, private backhaul and U.S. termination options. An industry visionary, Santaliz is leading the paradigm shift in locating a Tier 3 colocation facility at the point where the cable systems make landfall.

“We are seeing the next generation of subsea deployments since the year 2000, which will support the next 20 years,” comments Gil Santaliz, CEO for NJFX. “These new cables have a new financial model driven by the OTT’s with fewer carriers involved. Some carriers will be left to operate in the secondary market only. I look forward to speaking at Submarine Networks World Europe conference and discussing the changing dynamics and innovations that are spurred by this growth. NJFX’s unique Tier 3 colocation model allows us to address the requirements that subsea cable operators have for higher capacity, reliability, security, and flexible interconnection options to North America, South America and Europe.”

To schedule a meeting with the NJFX team, please contact [email protected].

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About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

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NJFX’s CEO Gil Santaliz to Speak at Metro Connect 2018

Newsroom /

NJFX’s CEO Gil Santaliz to Speak at Metro Connect 2018

January 16, 2018

WALL, NJ – January 16, 2018  – NJFX, the first and only colocation campus to sit at a cable landing station in the U.S and offer Tier 3, carrier-neutral data center capabilities, announces its CEO, Gil Santaliz will speak on a panel at Metro Connect 2018.

Metro Connect will be held January 29 – 31, 2018 in Miami, Florida and features panels and strategic discussions including the industry’s most influential businesses, and the who’s who of the metro market. Santaliz’ panel entitled, ‘Where Subsea Meets Metro: Bridging Land and Sea,’ will focus on the changing dynamics of subsea cable landings and the affect on data traffic patterns, new business models, and considerations for submarine cable owners in relation to terrestrial connectivity when building new routes.

In addition, Santaliz will also share publically with executives of North American carriers how the NJFX carrier-neutral cable landing station campus will support the recently announced Aqua Comms investment of the HAVFRUE subsea cable connecting the United States (New Jersey) with Northern Europe. HAVFRUE is the first new undersea cable traversing the North Atlantic to connect mainland Northern Europe to the US in nearly two decades. Network services will be delivered to and from NJFX’s high reliability, carrier-neutral interconnection point in Wall, New Jersey.

“I look forward to the discussion at Metro Connect as the industry recognizes that global communications are changing at a very fast pace,” comments Gil Santaliz, CEO for NJFX. “The role of cable landing stations, where subsea cables meet terrestrial routes, is ever important. NJFX’s unequaled Tier 3 colocation center is a place where we invite North American metro providers to meet subsea cable systems and present their unique routes across North America and beyond. Our campus is extremely reliable, secure and an optimal location as it serves as the physical first and last stop in the U.S.”

NJFX’s Marketplace offers partners and clients a viable, secure way to connect to subsea networks across Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. That connectivity is achieved via secure Network to Network Interfaces (NNI) with major transatlantic cables, the NJFX Market PoP (Point of Presence) and a rich carrier ecosystem, all of which combined now boast interconnection to over one million route miles, both subsea and terrestrial, and more than one million square feet of global data center space across over 180 countries.

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About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

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Aqua Comms Continues Investment in Subsea Cables and Announces North Atlantic Bridge

Newsroom /

Aqua Comms Continues Investment in Subsea Cables and Announces North Atlantic Bridge

January 15, 2018

DUBLIN – Aqua Comms DAC (“Aqua Comms”), the operator of Ireland’s first dedicated subsea fibre-optic network interconnecting New York, Dublin and London, announces today its plans for continued investment in submarine cable infrastructure having joined the HAVFRUE consortium which will own and operate a new subsea cable system connecting New Jersey, U.S.A., to Ireland, and Denmark, with connectivity options to Norway.

The HAVFRUE subsea cable is the first new undersea cable traversing the North Atlantic to connect mainland Northern Europe to the U.S. in nearly two decades. Aqua Comms is the appointed system operator and landing party in the U.S., Ireland, and Denmark. TE SubCom has been selected as supplier for the system on which route survey operations have begun. The projected Ready-for-Service (RFS) date for the HAVFRUE subsea cable is Q4 2019.

Aqua Comms will market and sell capacity services and raw spectrum on its portion of the HAVFRUE cable system under the brand name America Europe Connect-2 (AEC-2) as complementary to its existing transatlantic cable, America Europe Connect-1 (AEC-1), running between New York and Killala in County Mayo, Ireland. Aqua Comms is also concluding a new cable route to Denmark through the UK, developing CeltixConnect-2, which connects Dublin to Manchester, as well as the North Sea Connect cable that will link Stellium’s data centre in Newcastle, England, to Esbjerg, Denmark.

Combining these new subsea cable developments, the build of the HAVFRUE / AEC-2 cable system, together with existing systems owned and operated by Aqua Comms, will create a resilient, ring-based infrastructure between the East Coast of the U.S., Ireland, and Northern Europe, connecting the hubs of the pan-Atlantic hyperscale data centre industry in North America, Ireland, and Scandinavia.

“Invest in Denmark is proud to welcome Aqua Comms and the other consortium companies into the country with this fantastic addition to our internet infrastructure,” comments Steen Hommel, Director, Invest in Denmark. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs couldn’t be happier about this investment. Landing a brand new, top-of-the-line fibre cable on the west coast of Jutland will further cement Denmark’s connectivity to North America.”

The HAVFRUE / AEC-2 infrastructure network services will be delivered to and from modern, high-reliability, carrier-neutral interconnection points at NJFX, in Wall, New Jersey, and 1025Connect in Long Island, New York, with a resilient network connection in between, offering a Manhattan bypass route increasing diversity and resiliency in the region. In Europe, the services will be offered from all landing stations and carrier-neutral, metro area Points of Presence (PoPs) in Dublin, London, Amsterdam, and Esbjerg, where the system will more than double fibre connectivity to Denmark, increasing the diversity and reliability of the Internet to the region.

“Aqua Comms is delighted to be investing as a part of the consortium for the HAVFRUE cable system connecting the U.S., Ireland, and Denmark,” states Nigel Bayliff, Chief Executive Officer, Aqua Comms. “The demand for hyperscale capacity and connectivity linking North America with Northern Europe cannot be overestimated, and the combination of AEC-1 / AEC-2 subsea cable systems, facilitated by the construction of HAVFRUE will deliver reliability and resilience at an auspicious time, especially in view of the meteoric rise of the digital economy taking place in Scandinavia.”

The Aqua Comms team is attending PTC’18, taking place January 21-24, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Metro Connect, January 29-31, in Miami, Florida, and Submarine Networks Europe, February 20-21, in London. Aqua Comms invites companies to meet with its representatives at these events so that it can assist organizations with their long-term connectivity needs across the Atlantic Ocean.

To learn more about Aqua Comms, visit www.aquacomms.com.

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About Aqua Comms DAC
Aqua Comms DAC is an Irish Carriers’ Carrier specialising in building and operating submarine cable systems and supplying fibre pairs, spectrum and capacity networking solutions to the global media, content and carrier markets. It is the owner/operator of America Europe Connect-1 (AEC-1) and CeltixConnect-1 and continues to build on its vision of efficient submarine infrastructure ownership with membership of the HAVFRUE consortium and development of CeltixConnect-2 and North Sea Connect, bridging the Northern Atlantic between North America and Northern Europe. To learn more about Aqua Comms and its portfolio of subsea cable systems visit www.aquacomms.com

About TE SubCom
TE SubCom (SubCom), a TE Connectivity Ltd. company, is an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology and marine services, and a leading global supplier for today’s undersea communications requirements. As a vertically integrated supplier, SubCom designs, manufactures, deploys, and maintains the industry’s most reliable fiber optic cable systems. Its solutions include long-haul and regional systems, repeaterless networks, capacity upgrades, offshore oil and gas, and scientific research applications. SubCom brings end-to-end network knowledge and global experience to support on-time delivery and the needs of customers worldwide. To date, the company has deployed enough subsea communication cable to circle the Earth 15 times at the equator. For more information, visit
www.SubCom.com.

Media Contacts:
iMiller Public Relations for Aqua Comms DAC
Tel: +1 866 307 2510
[email protected]

Courtney McDaniel
TE SubCom
+1 732 578 7356
[email protected]

About NJFX:

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

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Aqua Comms Continues Investment in Subsea Cables and Announces North Atlantic Bridge Read More »

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