Subsea Cables & Internet Infrastructure

Sources tell me that the Iceland Iris cable was originally a Vodafone project that FARICE effectively highjacked. FARICE is a government-owned telecom incumbent with limited regulatory oversight due to legal loopholes. Indeed, Vodafone even built a data center in Reykjavik to serve as the cable landing station that the data center company Borealis eventually bought after Vodafone gave up on the subsea cable project. FARICE used its control of telecom infrastructure to block Vodafone. Here is the initial Vodafone project announcement: https://lnkd.in/d2aYnWnJ. Emerald was Vodafone's name for a high capacity cable project that would connect the US to Ireland and including an Iceland branch. After the branch was dropped, Aquacomms finished the project under the name of AEC-1. The projects reflects the insider nature of Icelandic society. Because Iceland has only 400,000 people competition in many industries is limited and everyone knows everyone and everything. For example, a handful...