James Freeman and Phelim Dolan from Aurora Telecom tell SiliconRepublic.com how the company manages fibre networks and subsea cables.
While dark fibre – unused optical fibre that can be leased – creates significant business opportunities in Ireland, it not without its security issues, fibre design manager at Aurora James Freeman tells SiliconRepublic.com.
“Many challenges exist in terms of environmental impact studies, in terms of road open licenses, in terms of the demand in certain rural areas in Ireland, especially where the network currently exists,” Freeman says.
To overcome some of these challenges, Freeman said Aurora has deployed this network adjacent to its parent company infrastructure.
“This allows for a more diverse, deeper and more secure network increasing our network availability. Aurora Telecoms network has been built in such a way that allows it to be a backhaul network.”
Meanwhile, subsea cables have also become a vital network for data travelling around the globe. As of last year, there were four subsea cables connecting the island of Ireland to the US and eight linking the island to Britain. But they can be difficult to deploy and maintain, not to mention expensive.
“Submarine cables are an expensive deployment for the operators, so we make sure we have a robust backhaul in place,” Aurora network manager Phelim Dolan tells SiliconRepublic.com.
Words by Vish Gain
