CEF Highlight of the Month: will the Arctic be the next Digital Gateway?

Let’s continue on our journey through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) success stories on the occasion of its 10^th anniversary. 

Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital is the youngest strand of the programme, created in 2021 to invest in digital connectivity infrastructures of common European interest. As part of the EU Global Gateway Strategy, CEF-Digital’s Backbone connectivity for Digital Global Gateways topic funds deployment of backbone network systems between EU countries and with non-EU countries, to ensure widespread and secure access to Gigabit connectivity for people and businesses. 

In the current geopolitical context, the EU focuses on the security of its backbone network, particularly its submarine cables. With most of the EU’s submarine traffic passing through the Suez Canal, the region’s strategic importance is clear. Recently, the vulnerability of these cables was highlighted when two cables were cut in the Red Sea. 

To mitigate this risk, the EU is exploring alternatives. A route to Japan via the Arctic was mentioned in a Memorandum of Cooperation on submarine cables for secure, resilient, and sustainable connectivity signed with the Japanese government in 2022. With the melting sea ice this is becoming a realistic option. Additionally, routing the cables either west of Greenland or over the North Pole is being considered for its potential advantages.

CEF-Digital is funding several projects investing on what could be parts of this future arctic route: 

Northern EU Gateways 

In 2021, two Nordic Telecom actors Cinia OY and Nordunet A/S received €3.6 million to study the future implementation of the C-Lion2, Terrestrial Backbone Finland (TBF) as well as the Far North Fiber (FNF) that intends to install 17 000 km subsea cable system connecting Europe, the United States, and Japan, aiming to enhance digital connectivity and strengthen the EU’s digital sovereignty.

Far North Fiber 1 (FNF)

In 2022, Cinia received €19 million to provide a marine ground survey for the North Atlantic segment of part of their global-spanning project, which plans to go through the “north-west passage” between Greenland and Canada, and prepare the ground in Finland, Ireland, and in Norway.

North Pole Fiber (NPF)

In 2022, Nordunet, the Swedish Research Council and the secretariat for Polar Research received two million euro to establish the fibre path between Kiruna (SE) and the Norwegian Border, as an alternative border crossing. The cable will be configured for future communication needs between Svalbard and Asia on the one side, and the European Union on the other.

Tusass Connect 1 and 2

The Greenlandic national telecom operator received a grant in 2021 (€8.8 million) to survey the ground along the western coast of Greenland to add a second submarine cable that could be used to connect Europe to Asia in the future. In 2022, they received €3.4 million to build two cable landing stations and the terrestrial part of the future cable.