Gallery - NJFX

SUMMER 2020: ONE FOR THE BOOKS!

September 9, 2022

Summer 2020 was no usual summer. But summer at the shore is always welcome, and here at NJFX, that meant business as usual. We remained committed to our customers and continued building our ecosystem, at a time when international connectivity takes on increased urgency and importance.

Summer became a period of transition for many businesses beginning to look beyond the pandemic. At NJFX, we announced three new additions to our ecosystem, with three Points of Presence (PoP) at NJFX. In May, we welcomed Cogent Communications, one of the world’s largest internet service providers. As a multinational, Tier-1 facilities-based ISP, Cogent Communications is consistently ranked as one of the top five backbone networks in the world.

Also in May, NetIX, a European based interconnected internet exchange made its first foray in North America right here at NJFX. NetIX has a unique reach into Eastern Europe. The internet exchange is now bringing together NJFX tenants and its own global network, including its full portfolio of solutions, of more than 30 IXPs with 140+ members.

NJFX Happy Hour — Most recently, team NJFX hosted an outdoor happy hour for a small group of colleagues and partners, including representatives from multinational financial institutions, OTTs and carriers. NJFX is continuing to build the (socially distant!) relationships that bring a robust ecosystem to NJFX as it works to serve its community.

In June, we were pleased to onboard CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL), a global communications service provider. The connection to CenturyLink’s terrestrial fiber network provides access to the service provider’s routes across North America.

As it supports massive shifts in traffic, the telecommunications infrastructure industry is also working to take steps that address its environmental impact. To that end, NJFX is very proud to announce that its facility is now carbon neutral.

The leadership team at NJFX embraced the brave new world of virtual events this summer. Starting with a virtual career presentation to STEM Academy students at Matawan Regional High School. The presentation included discussions about career opportunities in telecommunications infrastructure from NJFX’s Business Development Manager Sarah Kurtz. Also on the panel was NJFX’s first fully virtual intern and Virginia Tech student Amanda Kadunce.

The team attended the first ever virtual ITW. Founder and CEO Gil Santaliz participated in a virtual session entitled “Community: Subsea.” The focus was on the latest transatlantic cable projects, now entering a renewal phase. In July, Gil virtually attended Capacity Media’s Subsea World and spoke on a panel entitled “Subsea Resilience in Times of Crisis,” highlighting the role of the subsea industry on the interconnections that power global communications even during unprecedented challenges.

FLASHBACK: Pre-COVID, NJFX’s CLS campus served as an international model for subsea connectivity. A delegation of officials from Chile and Ecuador visited the campus earlier this year as part of a reverse trade mission, to learn more about achieving an optimal model of interconnection for future projects. The mission was part of a feasibility study for a planned project to connect the west coast of South America to Asia via subsea cable, dubbed the “Asia South America Digital Gateway”.

Recognizing NJFX’s leadership in the New Jersey business community, General Manager Felix Seda was honored with the NJBiz “40 Under 40” award. The award honors young business leaders in New Jersey who are making their mark.

Felix also attended the virtual Content Delivery Summit in June. The event addressed the increase in virtual school, work and even doctor visits plus the increase in demand of entertainment services, gaming, streaming, and the like. due to stay home directives. Felix participated in a panel called “Energy, Submarine, Fiber Carrier Interconnect”, focusing on the infrastructure needed to enable the massive digital shift.

As a member of SubOptic, Felix is taking an integral role as part of this industry association working hard to establish a pipeline to reinvigorate the subsea/telecom industry. The goal is to enable strategic internship and mentorship programs, to allow for the new wave of leaders pushing the industry forward.

As if we were not already dealing with unprecedented changes, NJFX also had to ramp up disaster recovery (DR) planning as Tropical Storm Isaias barreled through the state. More than 2.8M people in the tri-state area lost power. NJFX continued operations on backup generator under its Covid-19/hurricane preparedness protocols. Working in lockstep with local officials, and having the technical expertise, NJFX remained a priority as part of the restoration efforts.

This summer, NJFX proved the company is agile and ready to shift priorities to make sure its ecosystem is supported, no matter what challenges arise.

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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.

HawkTalk 52 with Gil Santaliz, CEO at NJFX

Newsroom / Sarah Kurtz

HawkTalk 52 with Gil Santaliz, CEO at NJFX

Published by datacenterHawk on September 1, 2020

WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ –

“Covid has transformed and accelerated the process of which was already happening in terms of workforce enablement, flexibility, and data anywhere.” – Gil Santaliz, CEO for NJFX

Santaliz explains all of this and more in his recent interview with datacenterHawk’s Founder, David Liggit. Check it all out in the Hawk Talk Video Episode 52.

Starting his career with MCI back in 1990, Santaliz commented that the industry has certainly seen a lot change since then, moving from fax machines to the cloud. Years later Santaliz transitioned from the voice side of the industry into fiber infrastructure with his company, 4Connections, which deployed dark fiber routes across New Jersey and New York. His team supported key infrastructure needed to connect hospitals, schools and Cable Landing Stations (CLS). As Santaliz put it, it was the, “true heart of global network infrastructure.” 4Connections was later sold to Optimum Lightpath, a subsidiary of New York cable operator Cablevision (now Altice USA), in 2008.

Santaliz went on to tell the story of how NJFX got its start. The property next to where NJFX resides today was first developed by Tata Communications during the dotcom craze. Subcom had invested in a cable that went from Wall, NJ around the world, anchored by Tata’s substantial Cable Landing Station. NJFX and its partners invested in the property next door to the CLS, built a meet-me-room and in 2015, NJFX was born as the first carrier-neutral CLS campus in the United States.

Making the World a Smaller Place

Today, CLS’s play an important role, as the transmission location for 99% of internet traffic globally. NJFX interconnects three continents with four subsea cables connecting North America, South America, Caribbean and Europe.

It took six to seven minutes to transmit a message across the original subsea cables dating back to the 1800’s. Today, it takes a fraction of a second. “Subsea cables made the world a smaller place,” commented Santaliz.

Impact of Covid 19: Challenges and Solutions

And even though the impact of life during Covid-19 is still evolving, some of the immediate effects we’ve seen include a huge increase of global IP. Gil shared how the pandemic has shown us even more how critical data centers are. The home has become the new disaster recovery site.

“Covid has transformed and accelerated the process of which was already happening in terms of workforce enablement, flexibility, data anywhere,” commented Santaliz.

“Fascinating to see the changes. I’m not sure the world would have moved as quickly obviously into this technology advancement, unless something like this [Covid] was in place,” stated Liggit.

The Who’s Who in Telecom

With a great community of carriers and strategic location 65 feet above sea level, NJFX is actively courting new subsea cables. The company has a proven track record in operating the facility, as well as the land that it owns. As Gil explained, “We have one of the largest banks in the U.S moving in to take advantage of the NJFX infrastructure and to be part of the subsea community. [Organizations] need to know how their networks work. They are no longer able to just be a customer of subsea systems. They need to be actively involved in the design and how that system is managed because they need to be digitally enabled – and that is the magic word today. You have to be digitally enabled in order to be able to conduct busines, educate students and conduct public safety. If you don’t have your connection, you don’t exist, you have got to be connected all the time.”

Liggitt agreed, “That is true. That is the quote of the conversation. You do have to be connected all the time. It is the expectation today in the world we live. It will be fun to watch the growth take place as you are in the middle of it.”

To catch the whole conversation, see below or click here.

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About NJFX:

NJFX General Manager Felix Seda Named to NJBiz “40 Under 40” List

NJFX Blog / Sarah Kurtz

NJFX General Manager Felix Seda Named to NJBiz “40 Under 40” List

Recognized among New Jersey’s Young Movers and Shakers in Business

August 18, 2020

Felix Seda, the General Manager at NJFX, has been recognized by NJBiz as one of New Jersey’s “40 Under 40”. This program recognizes New Jersey business leaders, under the age of 40, who share a commitment to business growth, professional excellence and their community.

The annual 40 Under 40 Awards honor the movers and shakers making their mark in New Jersey business. These young, noteworthy business people represent a wide range of industries. They prove much can be accomplished before your 40th birthday with determination, passion and drive.

Felix came to NJFX by way of the financial field, holding a management position at Barclay’s Wealth. Now, after only five years as NJFX General Manager, he has played a key role in accomplishing NJFX’s unique mission: to create an avenue for carriers and networks to get as close to the edge as possible, bridging the gap between the subsea cable landing station and landline fiber routes. He has played a major role in the success of this mission, which has made New Jersey a major player in the tech and telecom industry, putting it on the map as a global hub of communications.

Felix’s impact on the industry as a whole is also demonstrated beyond his work with NJFX. He is dedicated to bringing young talent into the telecom industry by spearheading a number of millennial-focused initiatives to encourage the education and engagement of young professionals. He created the Millennial Reception at PTC 2020, aimed at bringing new telecom employees together to network and engage with select industry veterans to further their careers. He is also working closely with SubOptic, a global organization invested in the long-term success of the fiber optic subsea communications industry, on its Diversity and Inclusion initiative.

He sees the value of recruiting young professionals, many of which are digital natives, and the unique perspective they may bring to an industry that is often so dominated by veterans involved from the beginning of the modern internet. The hiring and involvement of these fresh, young professionals will do a great deal to propel the industry into the future. Felix was also recently named on the Capacity Media Power 100 List for his professional accomplishments.

NJBiz is New Jersey’s leading business journal. The “40 Under 40” awards will be presented virtually on October 28th.

You can see the complete “40 Under 40” list here.

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About NJFX:

CONNECTIVITY THROUGH THE PANDEMIC: RISING TO THE CHALLENGE THROUGH COLLABORATION AND AGILITY

Newsroom / Sarah Kurtz

CONNECTIVITY THROUGH THE PANDEMIC: RISING TO THE CHALLENGE THROUGH COLLABORATION AND AGILITY

Originally published on the Pacific Telecommunications Council blog on August 13, 2020.

Now more than ever, it’s paramount that our connected world remains so. NJFX is handling the pandemic with the team’s usual forward-thinking approach. As a Tier 3 Cable Landing Station colocation campus with four subsea cable systems and nine terrestrial backhaul providers, NJFX is a designated critical infrastructure site. As such, our team is always prepared and ready with emergency response plans to address hurricanes, terrorist attacks, or even widespread power outages. A global pandemic, however, wasn’t part of that equation. The pandemic is certainly unique, unchartered territory and caused organizations globally to rethink standard operating procedures and exhaust spare inventory network capacity. Now, we continue to face supply chain issues as we prepare for the fall and a potential second wave or other unforeseen natural or man-made disaster.

There can be challenges in our ability to reach traditional network hubs in major U.S. cities, especially when considering having to use public transportation and elevators in high-rise buildings, which can go against current safety protocols. In addition, global social unrest continues to be aimed in these cities with the highest risk for additional virus outbreaks and potential violence. Our industry workforce component of essential employees has endured these challenges and will continue to do so. Still to come, challenges of returning to work while children may be continuing to engage in virtual learning for the new school year. In the U.S., as we continue down the path of subsea systems going on 20 years, we will soon be left with only four systems less than 10 years old this year, and one of those is in financial distress. In the U.S., our main East Coast fiber routes were all built about 20 years ago and have too much commonality, which allows for failures to potentially happen simultaneously. Combine that with an essential workforce that is stressed, and this could lead to unpredictable outage times.

Collaboration is needed for restoration on upcoming events and long-term investments to ensure this age of network interconnection can provide 100 percent uptime. In our current information age of instantaneous awareness through social media, every minute counts for us to know what’s happening.

At NJFX, we are fortunate with our suburban environment in a two-story building that was designed for contactless access. We now have more physical fiber count cables and capacity per cable than any other network hub in the U.S. Our role is vital. We built the facility as “Tier 3 by the Subsea,” but in this unpredictable world, the fear about the unknown continues and our team is focused on making sure we, along with our customers, are all prepared.

In this challenging time, the industry has had to either find ways to adapt to this very fluid situation or risk many unknowns related to both the physical health of our employees and the economic health of our businesses. This situation has forced organizations to rethink the status quo, be flexible, and not take normal operating procedures for granted.

What we have learned is that our industry is very resilient, robust, and able to rise to the challenge. The Internet did not break, it’s what has kept us together, connected, and relatively stable. As long as our collective focus remains on solving unique challenges and working together, we will continue in the spirit of what sets us apart. We’re ready and dedicated to ensuring our customers, employees, and vendors are prepared and safe. Together, we will not only deliver what our ecosystem has come to expect from us, but we will work to offer even greater capacity, connectivity, and opportunities than ever before.

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About NJFX:

Rising Through the Ranks: Developing a Newly Blossoming Career During a Pandemic

NJFX Blog / Sarah Kurtz

Rising Through the Ranks: Developing a Newly Blossoming Career During a Pandemic

August 11, 2020

Our world came to a screeching halt in mid-March. Businesses scrambled to make accommodations for entire workforces that shifted to remote work. Schools were shuttered. Travel was banned. In short, the world as we knew it changed drastically in the blink of an eye.

At NJFX, our business development model relies on building relationships, attending industry conferences and speaking on expert panels around the world. But that all changed earlier this year. While leisure travel is important to maintaining sectors of the economy, even more important is business travel that is crucial to developing and maintaining relationships between companies.

Late last year, Sarah Kurtz joined the NJFX team as Business Development Manager. Sarah has led NJFX’s enterprise efforts by providing awareness of unique interconnectivity options and the global reach at the Cable Landing Station campus. To that end, she began traveling extensively to introduce NJFX and its capabilities and offerings to the marketplace. In a few short months, those travel efforts were forced to end.

Now, executives at NJFX and many other companies and industries are re-evaluating how to conduct all business remotely. For NJFX, this transition was challenging but not impossible. Because the services that NJFX provides are part of the infrastructure that is powering the world’s newly remote workforce, some of the efforts were naturally enhanced. Being a digital native who easily adapts to ever-changing technology, Sarah was able to embrace a new way of building virtual relationships. At a time in Sarah’s career when learning the ins and outs of business development are key, she has had to shift building those relationships over a computer screen. Fortunately, the initial face-to-face meetings set Sarah up for success in the current environment.

Weeks of lockdowns turned into months, and NJFX had to make a decision about our annual internship opportunities. In May, NJFX welcomed Amanda Kadunce to the team as NJFX’s first 100% virtual intern. Amanda also rose to the challenge, learning important business and marketing skills while safely working from home over 200 miles away.

As the economy changes course, we will continue to see different trends emerge. Careers that were attractive pre-pandemic may not be as enticing today. Many kids in high school and post secondary schools are shifting their focus to jobs that withstand economic uncertainty. But one thing we have learned is that the ‘new’ economy definitely includes jobs within our industry. The data and voice connections that NJFX’s ecosystem powers have been keeping all of us online and connected. We look forward to a day when we can return to meeting face-to-face. Until then, we are remaining ever-vigilant in helping our subsea and telecom customers fortify their networks with more capacity, resilience and diversity. It’s the human connection and training up the next generation within the telecom industry that pulls us all forward to even greater things ahead.

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About NJFX:

The New Age CLS: Prepared for the Unexpected

NJFX Blog / Sarah Kurtz

The New Age CLS: Prepared for the Unexpected

Expect the unexpected. It’s a lesson learned from past natural and manmade disasters and one that we have all been forced to contend with during the COVID-19 pandemic.

*Photo Credit of CNN – Utility poles were felled Tuesday by Tropical Storm Isaias as it hit Guttenberg, New Jersey.

August 6, 2020

This week, Tropical Storm Isaias compounded an already stressful and challenging situation by battering the U.S. east coast, landing in North Carolina on Monday and powering up through New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Devastation was widespread as fallen trees smashed houses, buildings, cars and blocked roads. Hurricane force winds also contributed to the mayhem by downing power lines and blowing out transformers – leaving over 2.8M people in the tri-state area without power. Isaias is being compared to the devastation left by Superstorm Sandy and has utility crews working to restore power, along with emergency response teams clearing debris and helping those in need.

It goes without saying that the loss of life and personal property damage has been devastating to the region this week. For many businesses, this was terrible timing as they have already been working hard to recover from forced closures, having to operate under limited capacities and increased restrictions due to COVID-19. However, if your business is located near a power sub-station or near the backbone of the power grid, then you will probably be included in the priority restoration efforts as utility crews work to fix the highest-use areas first.

A closer look at one such business.

Located 30-feet from a power substation, NJFX, as a carrier-neutral Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Wall, New Jersey, continues operations on generator power under its Covid-19 Hurricane preparedness protocols. New Jersey electric utilities are assessing and prioritizing power restoration efforts and have crews working continuously. Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), which serves over 1M customers in central and northern NJ, also reported that an additional 1,300 workers will be arriving today, joining nearly 4,000 resources already engaged in the restoration effort. NJFX has experienced no service-affecting impact to customers and will provide full updates when electric utility is restored. This essential CLS, is operating on generator power now, which can last for ten days. Assessing the fuel consumption levels multiple times per day, NJFX can easily resupply its fuel load with the fuel trucks that are on standby to replenish when and if needed.

“When NJFX turned to us for consultation on power protocols during the facility’s construction, we noted that the location was superior because of the proximity to an existing utility substation. During outages, utilities will prioritize restoration efforts to substations in an effort to restore power,” commented Will Steffens, Principal, Sugarloaf Associates. “As an extra layer of security, a switch was installed on the utility distribution systems just outside the facility to isolate NJFX from impacts on the distribution system in the surrounding area. Even if there is extensive damage to the utility system in the area and the substation is energized, NJFX will be up and running.”

The NJFX team has forged strong partnerships with utility companies and local officials and is maintaining open lines of communication. Working in lock-step with local officials, and having the technical expertise needed to analyze the situation, further helps ensure NJFX retains priority as part of the restoration efforts. Thankfully, there is not the wide-spread flooding that came with Hurricane Sandy, and the roads coming into NJFX’s facility are clear. Customers, vendors and carriers are able to reach the colocation campus, which is back to operating under its Code Orange, COVID-19 hurricane preparedness procedures and requirements. In addition, since NJFX doesn’t require water to operate as do other data centers, it is not impacted by the inability that power outages cause to treat sewage.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” commented Gil Santaliz, NJFX CEO and Founder. “But NJFX customers can rest assured that every consideration has been well-thought out and accounted for. Because of our strategic location 64-feet above sea level and outside the NY/NJ metro areas, NJFX is buffered from some of the other issues plaguing urban areas. Expect the unexpected is a motto that the NJFX was founded upon and we continue to live by that today.”

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About NJFX:

NETIX CASE STUDY – NJFX

NJFX Blog / Sarah Kurtz

NETIX CASE STUDY – NJFX

July 22, 2022

WHO IS NJFX?

As a carrier-neutral Cable Landing Station (CLS), NJFX has a robust ecosystem of carriers, subsea cable providers, telecommunications companies and enterprises. The NJFX team has a very collaborative approach in working with a wide variety of organizations to offer access to new geographies, enable increased capabilities, drive advancements, solve IT challenges and overall, create new opportunities for its clients.

HOW DID YOU HEAR OF NETIX?

NetIX really captured our attention after winning ‘Best Internet Exchange’ at the 2018 Global Carrier Awards hosted by Capacity Media. Earning this coveted award and achieving that recognition really spoke volumes. We were honored to be considered as the hub for NetIX’s first entry in the U.S. market in 2019. At NJFX, we have a responsibility to our customers to source and partner with the best networks that can offer high-quality services and solutions, and NetIX fits that criteria.

THE CHALLENGES:

NJFX is home to 80% of U.S. carriers, more than 270 ASNs, and four subsea cables providing independent direct routes to North America, South America, Europe and the Caribbean. NetIX offers additional opportunities to our clients who want to access global solutions and a global network simply, quickly and through one cross connect from one location. With the NetIX Point of Presence (PoP) in the NJFX CLS, our customers have another reliable partner to help distribute their sales@netix.net www.netix.net ASN: 57463 traffic globally. Our U.S.-based ASNs want to exchange traffic directly with other peers globally quickly, easily with minimal hassle and service disruption and NetIX enables all of this. As a leading player in the marketplace, NetIX helps U.S. East Coast-located networks improve their reach across Europe.

THE SOLUTION:

There are two NetIX services that stand out the most to our customers; the GIX (Global Internet Exchange) solution and the global Point-to-Point service. Both of these services are provided through one cross-connect and one contract, keeping things as simple as possible.GIX is a unique service that enables tenants to access all the major Internet Exchanges and directly exchange traffic with them. Offering GIX means NJFX can connect to over 6,000 networks and can help distribute traffic to more than 30 Internet Exchanges like AMS-IX (in Amsterdam), DE-CIX (in Germany), LINX (in London), MSK-IX (in Moscow) and many more.Since NetIX’s network has over 150 PoPs (Points of Presence), our customers can connect to any one of them, be it in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Milan, or even Buenos Aires – all locations can handle any type of bandwidth with immediate upgrades if required.

THE RESULT:

We partnered with NetIX because we knew the broad range of services and the type of solutions it provided would be of interest to our customers and could benefit them greatly. NetIX has an excellent reputation in providing exceptional services, and we are confident their team will deliver that same level of service to our customers.Through this partnership we have enabled new capabilities for our customers creating more value and options for them. We’ve also been able to further solidify our position as a global telecommunications ecosystem. Our partnership with NetIX offers many opportunities to our tenants who want to access global solutions and a global network simply, quickly and through one cross connect from one location allowing for rapid deployments and enabling cost-effective access to European Internet Exchanges.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GROW, EXTEND, AND IMPROVE YOUR NETWORK?

ENJOY ALL THE BENEFITS FROM WORKING WITH NETIX AND GET IN TOUCH WITH OUR TEAM TODAY:

Website- www.netix.net

Email- sales@netix.net

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About NJFX

Re-Imagining Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging

NJFX Blog / Sarah Kurtz

Re-Imagining Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging

NJFX General Manager dedication to bringing young talent to the industry

July 28, 2020

COVID-19 has presented significant obstacles for many aspects of life, and for young people it has also created a lot of uncertainty when it comes to employment options and opportunities. For this reason, the SubOptic Association is working hard to establish a pipeline to reinvigorate the subsea/telecom industry and enable strategic internship and mentorship programs allowing for the new wave of leaders pushing the industry forward. NJFX applauds this group and its efforts to strengthen the industry as a whole.

As part of that focus, NJFX General Manager, Felix Seda and Business Development Manager, Sarah Kurtz – both millennials – are assisting in SubOptic’s efforts to encourage young talent to join the telecommunications workforce, specifically in the subsea space. After spearheading the Millennials in Telecom reception at PTC 2020, Seda sought to expand the initiative and focus it on the subsea space, leading him to work on initiatives within the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (“DIB”) working group of the SubOptic Association. As a part of the DIB Working group, Mr. Seda and Ms. Kurtz are working alongside the rest of the members to create opportunities for the younger generation to explore the various avenues afforded within the industry.

“We are working with the many talented people in the SubOptic Association to rebuild these programs in a way that will help broaden our outreach and expand the pool of young leaders exploring our rewarding and unique industry,” says Seda. “Internships are a great way for people still in college to find their career path post-grad, and we do not want the state of the world to get in the way of that.” The SubOptic Association is also working on building and launching their mentorship program, which connects young professionals with more experienced mentors to guide them in the beginning stages of their careers.

“We value the work being done by the entire SubOptic membership and working groups to raise awareness on the importance of bringing more people to the industry and attracting new organizations,” commented Erick Contag, Executive Chairman of GlobeNet and President of the Executive Committee of SubOptic. “We are fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated team of people working on these important and worthy initiatives.”

“Felix and Sarah are very dedicated to this cause and their insights have been extremely valuable to not only NJFX’s success, but in guiding millennials to the industry,” commented Gil Santaliz, CEO of NJFX. “They are clearly dedicated to building out the subsea workforce, and we look forward to their efforts, along with others in the industry to garner even more participation and success going forward.”

Seda has also been working with SubOptic’s DIB working group to expand its network of partner companies for the internship and mentorship programs. The DIB team recently held a well-attended session at the Subsea World online conference to encourage more companies to get involved. “When I was in college, I was a part of the Posse Foundation program, which is a well-known organization in the education landscape. They have a large network of “Posse Partners”, companies who encourage their employees to volunteer to mentor students and provide internship opportunities to the Posse scholars. My goal is to create an extensive network like that for SubOptic, and maybe even blend these initiatives in the future,” Seda remarks.

This is not the only time Seda and Kurtz have shown their dedication to bringing young talent to the industry. They both worked closely with PTC earlier this year to organize a reception aimed at bringing millennials together to network with each other and with established industry veterans. The dynamic twosome also conducted a virtual career presentation at Matawan Regional High School in New Jersey to inform college-bound students about the opportunities in telecom infrastructure. Their work with SubOptic is the next step in collective efforts to revitalize the industry with fresh perspectives, from the Digital Native generation.

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About NJFX:

The North Atlantic Loop

Newsroom / Sarah Kurtz

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 will be launching its North Atlantic Loop in the second half of 2020.

The North Atlantic Loop will comprise of two major Trans-Atlantic cables and three regional cables to bring to the market diverse, resilient and uniquely routed subsea cables. These will combine to deliver enhanced capacity services to the North Atlantic markets of the US, through to Ireland, the UK and the Nordics – all with diverse routing and landings.

This new offering will provide critical infrastructure to key data centre markets as well as the major telecoms markets within the east coast of the US and western Europe.

Two of the 5 cable systems in play are:

AEC-1 (America-Europe Connect-1) that went RFS in 2016 and runs from New York to Dublin
CC-1 (CeltixConnect-1) that went RFS in 2012 and runs from Dublin to Wales and on to London

Three new cable systems are expected to go live in 2020:

AEC-2 (America-Europe Connect-2) from New Jersey (NJFX) to Denmark (Blaabjerg)
CC-2 (CeltixConnect-2) from Dublin (Clonshaugh) to UK (Blackpool)
NSC (North Sea Connect) from UK (Newcastle) to Denmark (Houstrup)

AEC-2 will be the first new Trans-Atlantic cable to land in Denmark (Blaabjerg) in nearly 20 years – since TAT-14, a cable which is due to be retired in December 2020. On the US side, AEC-2 lands in NJFX in Wall, New Jersey – an industry-leading carrier-neutral cable landing station (CLS) campus and Tier 3 data centre. AEC-2 will also branch into Ireland (Old Head), a diverse landing to the existing AEC-1 landing Killala, before routing on to Dublin. This new cable therefore offers route diversity from end to end, and will deliver secure, modern subsea cable capability from the US to the Nordics, Ireland and the UK.

CC-2 will be Aqua Comms’ second unrepeated cable across the Irish Sea, running from Clonshaugh, Dublin via the CLS in Loughshinny, to Blackpool, UK. CC-2 will offer multiple fibre pairs on a brand new route, again designed to deliver secure and reliable services between Ireland and the UK. CC-2 will partner with CC-1 to deliver diversity and resilience between the UK and Ireland as part of the North Atlantic Loop.

NSC will connect Denmark (Houstrup) to the UK across the North Sea to the Stellium carrier neutral data centre in Newcastle, UK. Its Danish landing will connect through a terrestrial fibre link to Blaabjerg as part of the North Atlantic Loop whilst also providing diversity of landings for NSC and AEC-2.

To continue reading the rest of this article, please read it in Issue 113 of the SubTel Forum Magazine on page 39 or on our archive site here.

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About NJFX:

The North Atlantic Loop Read More »