Equitix, Irish subsea cable developer MDM and Orange have formed a joint venture to build Pisces, a new subsea cable linking Ireland directly with continental Europe.
The roughly 3,125-kilometer cable will connect Galway, Ireland; Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, France; Sopelana, Spain; and Carcavelos, Portugal, with 16 fiber pairs designed to provide high-capacity, open-access dark fiber connectivity along Europe’s Atlantic coast.
The companies said Pisces is intended to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty, diversify fiber routes and give Ireland an alternative to traffic transiting through the U.K. The system is also expected to support Ireland’s role as a European cloud and data center hub by improving links between Irish facilities, continental Europe and global networks.
The project has received funding support through the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility. A marine survey conducted by Elettra Tlc and Orange Marine was completed in August, with engineering and permitting now underway. Deployment is expected in 2028.
Read the full press release here.