Exa Infrastructure has launched a new European fiber route, including a subsea cable connecting the UK to mainland Europe.

The I Squared Capital company this week announced the deployment of a new fiber route connecting London to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Brussels.

The 1,200 km project includes a 115km submarine cable linking Margate in the UK to Ostend, Belgium. Exa is responsible for providing landing party and backhaul services on the cable.

The new route includes 1,085 km of new terrestrial fiber upgrades to existing In-Line Amplifier (ILA) facilities across the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as well as two new cable landing stations (Exa’s 21st and 22nd).

Steve Roberts, SVP strategic network investments and product management at Exa Infrastructure, said: “This is a real milestone for robust connectivity options in Europe and includes the first new subsea cable on this complex corridor – the North Sea – in 25 years. This new route complements our investment in the Channel Tunnel, delivering scalable, modern, and optimized fiber paths between key FLAP hubs.”

Ciaran Delaney, COO at Exa Infrastructure, said it was a “complex and challenging” build.

“The regulatory landscape in Europe, plus the North Sea’s challenging seabed conditions, demanded ‘in-region’ expertise in the various jurisdictions, as well as sophisticated installation techniques – particularly on the wet segments – to install and protect the system from future interruption to service,” he added.

Exa Infrastructure is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital. The company owns more than 155,000 km of fiber across 37 countries, including six transatlantic cables.

There are currently three other subsea cables connecting the UK to Belgium; BT’s Mercator cable as well as Colt’s Tangerine and Pan European Crossing systems.

Like Exa’s new system, Mercator and Tangerine also land in Ostend in Belgium; Pan European Crossing lands in Bredene. In the UK, Mercator and Tangerine both land in Broadstairs, while Pan European Crossing lands in Dumpton Gap.