Company hopes to build 'digital bridge' to US

A NEW high-speed network hopes to build a “digital bridge” between Ireland and the US, improving the connectivity of the western region and thus enhancing its attractiveness for data centres.

The Emerald Express is scheduled to go into operation in spring 2013.

US company Emerald Networks has linked up with Dublin based PiPiper Infrastructure to develop the 60terabit low latency fibre route between Belmullet, Co Mayo, and Shirley, New York.

It is hoped that Belmullet will be an essential link along the high-speed network and will facilitate companies looking to set up data centres in Mayo.

Until now, such facilities have been focused in Dublin due to better connectivity.

The new network will be one of the fastest across the Atlantic, with less than 62 milliseconds of latency, or delay, for data making the round trip from New York to London.

Latency is particularly important for the financial services industry, where each millisecond can create multi-million dollar opportunities.

The project involves two steps: 1) connecting Ireland to the major cities on the east coast of the US and to the European centres of London, Frankfurt and Berlin; and 2), the build-out and enhancement of Ireland’s national dark fibre network to bring this connectivity to different parts of the country.

Ray Sembler, chief executive of Emerald Networks, has expressed his enthusiasm for the project.

“We really moved heaven and earth to get this project in Ireland,” he said yesterday.

The company has to date raised $5 million for the project, but is currently in the process of raising an additional $300 million.

It expects $25 million of this to close before Christmas, with another $100 million in equity to be raised by Valentine’s Day. It will then seek to raise $150 million in debt by April.

It is being partnered in its efforts by PiPiper, a specialist fibre connectivity company. Its infrastructure will involve 1,050 kilometres of a diverse route, 420km of which will be newly constructed. This will create 47 full-time jobs for PiPiper, as well as 230 jobs in the construction of the network.

It hopes that the initiative will boost business in the west.

“All our data centres are on the east coast at the moment. This will flip that and put them on the west coast,” Eddie Kilbane, managing director of PiPiper, said.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said at the launch that he was “really excited” about the initiative, adding that it was part of the “big picture” of where the country wanted to be.

“This project is not delivered yet, but it has enormous potential for itself and the country as a whole,” he said. “By 2016 we want to prove that we’re the best country in the world to do business.”

The Taoiseach was joined at the launch of the initiative by Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, who said it was a “very significant development with the capacity to address the issue of regional disparity”.

Mayo County Council co-ordinated the public sector response to the initiative, working closely with agencies such as the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Marine Institute.