Orange and Telxius are teaming up on Dunant submarine cable, a Google project, to provide each other with terrestrial backhaul extensions in France and in the US

Orange, one of world’s leading telecommunications operators, and major investor in over 40 submarine cables has teamed up with Telxius, the communications infrastructure company of the Telefónica Group, to collaborate in Europe and the United States on backhaul extensions for the Dunant cable, a Google project. The Atlantic is one of the world's busiest network routes and the Dunant cable will address the massive growth in data and content needs between Europe and the U.S. This 6,600km-long transatlantic cable will connect the United States to the French Atlantic coast and aims to launch services in late 2020.

Under this agreement, Orange and Telxius offer co-location services at their respective Cable Landing Stations in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez (France) and Virginia Beach (US) and operate them. Both are strategic locations as they are located near main connectivity hubs on both sides of the Atlantic. From its Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez (85) Cable Landing Station, Orange will enable terrestrial connection to Telxius up to Paris, while Telxius will connect Orange to Ashburn from Virginia Beach.

This collaboration represents a strong transatlantic bridge as both companies can effectively provide multi-terabit capacity on this Europe-US route. It also reinforces Orange and Telxius’ respective positions to support the development of new digital usages for their international customers in Europe and America and bolsters the international leadership position of both companies on the wholesale market to better address the needs of content-providers and third-party operators.

“We are pleased to announce this agreement with Telxius, which will allow us to provide our customers with very high capacity end-to-end services, as well as network redundancy, on the strategic transatlantic route. We will be operating two fiber pairs of over 30 terabits per second between France and the USA. It is a valuable extension to Orange’s global network joining our Atlantic and Mediterranean routes to Africa, the Middle East and Asia with guaranteed best in class quality of service,” said Jerome Barré, CEO of Orange Wholesale and International Networks.

“This agreement confirms our commitment to provide the best services to our partners and customers, offering the latest technology, diverse routes and best latency. We are pleased to join forces with Orange on this new route which in combination with our existing MAREA system puts Telxius in an excellent position in the strategic Europe – US route,” said Mario Martín, Telxius CEO.

^{Orange International Network Infrastructures & Services, a major player in the submarine cable market Orange has demonstrated its submarine trans-Atlantic cable credentials and expertise on numerous projects. Orange continues to make substantial investments in submarine connectivity projects, to guarantee and continue developing the quality of its international network service. Orange is currently involved in over 40 submarine cable throughout the world.}

^{Following recent projects on the Atlantic front, but also in the Mediterranean, the arrival of this new cable places France at the heart of the European hub, from which many international networks set off for America, but also Africa and Asia.}

^{Through its subsidiary, Orange Marine, the company also has access to a fleet of ships, and internationally-recognised expertise, placing it at the heart of deployment and maintenance for these connections, which are vital to all of its communications.}

^{About Telxius}

^{Telxius is the global infrastructure company of the Telefónica Group, with one of the largest telecommunication sites portfolio in the world. Its more than 20,000 sites* are located in Europe and Latin America: approximately 70% in Spain and Germany, and the remaining 30% in Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina. In addition, Telxius operates an international network of 87,000 km of high-capacity fiber optic submarine cable, including the two largest capacity systems in the world, MAREA and BRUSA. Telxius provides flexible solutions for its clients, contributes to creating collaboration agreements in the sector and facilitates global communications to companies from many sectors and verticals.}

Once the recently announced agreement in Brazil materializes; subject to the required approvals from the antitrust authority *

^{Telxius keeps investing in new subsea projects with the aim of developing its international network of fiber optic submarine cable. In 2019 Telxius built its Derio Communications hub in the north of Spain, a combination of an expanded cable landing station and a fully-fledged PoP, that leverages the full capacity of the transatlantic cable MAREA and means a one-stop-shop for a wide range of cable services. In addition, Telxius is investing in boosting communication services in the Pacific Latin American region through a new submarine cable, together with América Móvil, to be ready to operate by the end of 2020. For more information about Telxius, please visit www.telxius.com}

[ Download the press release Download (60.1 kB) ](https://www.orange.com/en/content/download/53795/1479338/version/6/file/Orange Telxius release_FINAL.pdf)

Contacts presse :

Nathalie Chevrier: nathalie.chevrier@orange.com ; +33 1 44 44 93 93 Nicole Clarke: nicole.clarke@orange.com ; +44 7818 848 848

Telxius press contact : comunicacion@telxius.com

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