A new US$300m transatlantic cable is being hooked up to Ross Strand in Co Mayo, promising vastly improved internet speeds for communications companies.

In what will be the country’s first dedicated transatlantic modern subsea fibre optic cable, the connection – which comes in through Killala – will be made later on today (14 August), with Aqua Comms the company behind the project.

The improved internet capabilities will come as a boon to content providers, global data centres and cloud networks, which represent some of the major tech employers in the country.

The connection point will be opened by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, with hopes that it can foster the creation of thousands of indirect jobs, something incredibly difficult to truly attribute.

The most advanced transatlantic cable

The transatlantic cable will be able to handle one-third of the world’s phone calls, the most advanced of its kind crossing the Atlantic. It will hook up New York and Mayo directly, with Dublin, London and the rest of Europe joining in.

Ireland is all about the cables this week. Only yesterday Cork linked up with the Hibernia Express, another transatlantic cable that links the US to the UK.

Upon completion, the Hibernia Express cable will connect Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Slough in the UK. It will deliver speeds of up to 100Gbps transported over 4,600km of cable.

Main image of Killala via Shutterstock