Arctic Fibre is a three-phase submarine cable project, planned to connect Asia, Canada and Europe through the Arctic Ocean.
Phase 1 – Alaska is a 1200 mile submarine fiber optic cable main trunk line between Nome and Prudhoe Bay.
Phase 2 – Asia, is planned to extend the backbone cable from the Nome branching unit west to Asia, with options for additional branches into Alaska. Phase 2 will create an option for a diverse path out of the United States to Asia.
Phase 3 – Canada-United Kingdom, is intended to extend the subsea system east of the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska branching unit along the Lower Northwest Passage to Canada and on to the United Kingdom. Phase 3 will connect to Northern Canadian communities and will provide a secure low latency route from Europe to Asia, and a diverse route option out of North America to Europe.
The Phase 1 – Alaska has been launched for service since early December 2017.
Quintillion Subsea Holdings LLC (“Quintillion”) acquired the assets of Arctic Fibre in May 2016.
Quintillion is moving forward with a revised phase 2 project, trying to build the Japan-Washington State Trans-Pacific Cable System (JAWS TPCS).