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An in-depth profile of EXA Infrastructure’s newly announced 6,552 km single-operator EXA Meridian system, EXA's broader North Atlantic network grid, and the post-2025 boom in high-density transatlantic builds including SOL, Fastnet, NARW 1 & 2, and Aurora.
1. System Spotlight: EXA Meridian Announcement & Specifications
EXA Infrastructure has officially announced EXA Meridian, a 6,552-kilometer high-capacity subsea optical fiber system linking New Jersey on the U.S. East Coast directly to a newly constructed Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Brean, United Kingdom.
Developed, owned, and operated 100% by EXA, EXA Meridian represents the first transatlantic subsea system undertaken by a single independent operator without a multi-carrier consortium model or a hyperscaler in over a decade, following the ready for service of EXA Express in 2015.
Engineered specifically to alleviate growing bandwidth bottlenecks driven by artificial intelligence (AI) model training, hyperscale availability zones, and neocloud expansion, EXA Meridian delivers unconstrained dark fiber, full-spectrum leasing, and direct optical integration into EXA’s European and North American terrestrial backbones.
| System Metric | EXA Meridian Technical Specification |
|---|---|
| System Length & Route | 6,552 km (~4,071 miles) direct subsea trunk between Brean, UK and New Jersey, US. |
| Fiber Pair Architecture | 24 Fiber Pairs (FP). |
| Total Design Capacity | Up to 500 Terabits per second (Tbps). |
| Ownership & Operating Model | 100% EXA Infrastructure owned & operated (Single-Operator Ownership Framework). |
| Turnkey Wet-Plant Vendor | Xtera (Advanced subsea optical repeaters and wideband amplifiers). |
| Terrestrial Backhaul Interconnect | Seamless connection via Brean CLS into EXA's 37-country European terrestrial grid. |
| Target Ready-for-Service (RFS) | Q4 2029. |
Single-Operator Commercial Flexibility
By avoiding multi-party consortium governance, EXA offers custom spectrum leases, dedicated dark fiber pairs, and rapid capacity activation directly to enterprise and cloud customers.
Advanced Optical Technology
Leverages Xtera’s wideband subsea optical repeaters across all 24 fiber pairs, maximizing spectral efficiency across long-haul trans-oceanic distances.
2. EXA Infrastructure’s Transatlantic Network Footprint
EXA Infrastructure operates the most extensive owned digital footprint connecting North America and Europe, spanning over 174,500 route kilometers of fiber across 37 countries and serving more than 500 Points of Presence (PoPs). EXA's transatlantic subsea architecture relies on eight diversified subsea cable routes (including three wholly owned and operated systems), ensuring multi-route redundancy and low-latency connectivity across the Atlantic ocean.
EXA Express (Lowest Latency Route)
Spanning 4,600 km across 6 fiber pairs with a 53 Tbps design capacity, EXA Express links Halifax (Canada), Brean (UK), and Cork (Ireland), delivering an industry-leading sub-58.95ms round-trip latency link between NY4 (Secaucus, NJ) and London.
Diversified 8-Cable Transatlantic Grid
Combines wholly owned assets with strategic capacity shares across key transatlantic trunks (including ACE1, ACE3/Amitié, AEC-2/Havfrue, Dunant, Marea, EXA Express, EXA Atlantic South, EXA Atlantic North), offering over 3,000 possible terrestrial-subsea route combinations.
Integrated European Terrestrial Backhaul
Transatlantic subsea landings seamlessly interconnect into EXA's 400G-enabled terrestrial fiber footprint, linking landing stations directly to core data center clusters in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, and Dublin.
3. The Post-2025 Transatlantic Subsea Cable Boom
Driven by hyperscale cloud growth, artificial intelligence synchronization, and the mandate to bypass legacy corridor congestion around New York and Cornwall, the North Atlantic is experiencing an unprecedented buildout cycle of new high-density subsea systems:
Route: Palm Coast (Florida, US) → Bermuda → Azores → Santander (Spain).
Manufactured in the U.S. by SubCom, SOL creates the first direct subsea link connecting Florida to Southern Europe. Interconnecting with Google's Nuvem system, SOL links Southeast US cloud regions to Santander and Madrid, establishing major geographic diversity.
Route: Maryland (US) → County Cork (Ireland).
Fastnet is Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) first dedicated private transatlantic subsea cable. Engineered with 16 fiber pairs delivering over 320 Tbps capacity, it bypasses traditional NJ landings by terminating directly in Maryland and connecting to AWS European regions via Ireland.
Route: Galway / Southern Ireland → Long Island (NY) & New Jersey (US).
Unveiled by McMahon Design and Management (MDM) with a $500M investment, NARW 1 (Galway to Long Island, RFS Q3 2029) and NARW 2 (Southern Ireland to NJ, RFS 2030) form a twin-cable system establishing direct Irish-US data corridors linked onward to Nordic networks.
Route: New Jersey (US) → Denmark.
Meta's Aurora subsea cable is a 7,268 km private transatlantic system engineered with 24 fiber pairs delivering up to 497 Tbps design capacity. Connecting New Jersey directly to Denmark, it powers hyperscale data replication between North American and Nordic AI clusters.
4. Comparative Matrix: Post-2025 Transatlantic Subsea Systems
| Cable System | Lead Developer / Owner | Transatlantic Landing Points | Capacity / Fiber Pairs | Target RFS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXA Meridian | EXA Infrastructure | Brean, UK → New Jersey, US | 500 Tbps / 24 Fiber Pairs | Q4 2029 |
| SOL | Google (Partnered with Telxius / DC BLOX) | Palm Coast, FL (US) → Bermuda → Azores → Santander, Spain | 392 Tbps / 16 Fiber Pairs | 2027 |
| Fastnet | Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Maryland, US → County Cork, Ireland | >320 Tbps / 16 Fiber Pairs | 2028 |
| Aurora | Meta | New Jersey, US → Denmark | 497 Tbps / 24 Fiber Pairs | 2028 |
| NARW 1 (Narwhal 1) | McMahon Design & Management (MDM) | Galway, Ireland → Long Island, NY (US) | Next-Gen Multi-Pair Optical | Q3 2029 |
| NARW 2 (Narwhal 2) | McMahon Design & Management (MDM) | Southern Ireland → New Jersey, US | Next-Gen Multi-Pair Optical | 2030 |
The post-2025 transatlantic subsea boom reflects a structural evolution in global connectivity: transitioning from legacy consortium systems toward ultra-high-density (24+ FP) architectures, hyperscaler-owned private routes, and specialized operator networks like EXA Meridian designed to power the next generation of global AI and cloud infrastructure.
