English (UK) 
简体中文(中国) Orange landed the 6800km tranatlantic Amitié cable on a beach in the district of Le Porge, near Bordeaux (Gironde) on Monday, Feburary 8. With nearly 800km of fibre optic cable laid, this stage represents the first step of the Amitié cable’s roll-out. The Amitié cable system is scheduled for service in early 2022, to connect the state of Massachusetts, USA; Le Porge, France; and Bude, UK.
The Amitié consortium comprises Facebook, Microsoft, Aqua Comms, Vodafone (through Cable & Wireless Americas Systems, Inc.). The Amitié cable system has a transatlantic capacity of more than 320Tbps on 16 fiber pairs.
Orange is the French landing provider for the Amitié cable systemis. Orange owns the portion of the Amitié cable system extending 12 nautical miles from the French shore, and grants to the Amitié consortium all their affiliates dark fiber IRUs on that portion of the Amitié cable system. Orange doesn't have any ownership on the Amitié cable system outside of the French water.
According to a partnership agreement announced recently, Orange has acquired two transatlantic fiber pairs on the Amitié cable system on IRU basis, offering capacity up to 23Tbps each.
Orange announced the signature of a partnership agreement on the AMITIÉ cable system as well as the ready for service of the Dunant cable system in January.
“With this new agreement, we are again demonstrating our skills and expertise in transatlantic submarine cables. Against the backdrop of a boom in international traffic, the arrival of these increasingly efficient, cutting-edge submarine cables reinforces the strategic and national advantage linked to submarine cables. Orange continues to play a leading role in this global market and is committed to developing infrastructure to connect France to other continents,” said Jean-Luc Vuillemin, head of international networks and services at Orange.
Orange acts as the French landing provider for the Amitié cable system, specifically operating and maintaining the Amitié system’s landing station in Le Porge, near Bordeaux (Gironde). Orange will also supply terrestrial connectivity for the Amitié cable system, starting from the Le Porge cable landing station towards Bordeaux, then Paris and Lyon, with onwards connectivity to the rest of Europe.
Amitié’s landing in Bordeaux also creates the opportunity to turn the region into a international digital hub, with the development of new data centres and the like. Orange was also able to reuse the existing infrastructure to minimise the work and limit the impact on local residents and the environment.
