Alcatel Submarine Networks, part of Nokia, has won the Eastern Arctic Undersea Fiber Optic Network (EAUFON) contract.
This contract, funded by the Kativik Regional Government, (KRG), a supramunicipal body with jurisdiction over the territory of Québec, will connect five communities in northern Québec that have been primarily dependent on satellite links.
Based on 2 fibre pairs and offering a speed of at least 10 Tbps on each fibre pair, the EAUFON system will be extendable in the future to connect other communities in northern Canada. The system supplied by ASN will integrate its high bandwidth repeaters, OADM Branching Units, SoftNode Submarine Line Terminal (SLTE), and modular duplicated Power Feed Equipment (PFE).
Alain Biston , president of ASN, stated:
“ASN is honored to have been selected by KRG for the supply of the EAUFON system that will bring reliable high-bandwidth connectivity to northern Quebec by building upon our previous experience in successfully installing advanced coherent submarine cable systems in the remote and harsh Arctic environment.”
Jennifer Munick , KRG Chairperson, also said: “EAUFON will provide broadband capacity to fulfil the needs of the people and businesses of Nunavik for many years to come. We will not only bridge the digital divide, but we will leap across it.”
ASN will produce the 1,200 kilometres fibre optic submarine cable system in its facilities located in France and also the UK, and will deploy it using a purpose-built subsea cable ship.
The system deployment will have to consider the difficult weather conditions and comply with the regulatory, logistical, scheduling, and operational constraints associated with marine activities performed in the Hudson Bay. This will be a real challenge, and ASN will draw upon its experience from four previous projects in the Arctic region to meet this new challenge.
The EAUFON system should be ready at the end of 2021.