Hibernia Atlantic wins €32m contract

THE COMMUNICATIONS minister Eamon Ryan and the North’s Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster have announced the awarding of a £30 million (€32 million) contract to construct a new direct telecommunications link to North America that will benefit Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The two departments have awarded the contract to Hibernia Atlantic Limited, the transatlantic submarine transport cable provider who say work will be completed no later than March next year.

Called “Project Kelvin” it will involve connecting a new submarine cable to the Hibernia North Transatlantic cable located 22 miles off the north coast of Ireland. The new cable will come ashore on the north coast in Co Derry.

Further links will ensure cities and towns such as Belfast, Derry, Coleraine, Armagh, Letterkenny, Monaghan, Castleblayney, Drogheda and Dundalk have direct international telecoms connectivity, according to the departments. Communications between Ireland and North America will be routed directly without having to use external networks, eg through London. Amongst the benefits will be faster response times at lower cost for high capacity broadband. It will also ensure more secure transmission of data, according to Hibernia Atlantic.

“Project Kelvin will provide faster broadband at lower costs. This alone will assist Ireland and Northern Ireland in attracting foreign investment,” said Mr Ryan.