A Nordic consortium of five organizations is exploring the feasibility of building one of the largest digital infrastructure projects in European history — a fiber cable stretching from Northern Europe to East Asia and the United States via the Arctic. The project, named GlobalConnect, has been awarded €4 million from the European Commission to fund the project phase: GlobalConnect Step 1.
A safer, faster digital link through the Arctic
Today, 90 percent of all data traffic between Europe and Asia travels through the Red Sea, a route increasingly strained by geopolitical challenges. The GlobalConnect project aims to provide a significantly safer and shorter path via the Arctic, reducing transit times, lowering latency and improving overall resilience.
GlobalConnect’s role and objectives
As part of this initiative, GlobalConnect will participate in an international consortium focused on strengthening digital resilience and security in our increasingly connected world.
“We are pleased to announce our participation in this groundbreaking Nordic consortium. At GlobalConnect we continuously work to future‑proof digital infrastructure in Northern Europe and beyond, and this project represents a major step forward. By enabling a faster and more secure connection between Europe, Asia and the United States, we are responding to growing global demand for high-capacity data links and robust infrastructure that strengthens society,” says Pär Jansson, SVP, GlobalConnect Carrier.
GlobalConnect’s experience with subsea cable projects
GlobalConnect has many years of experience in laying submarine cables across Scandinavia and recently completed the largest digital infrastructure project in the Nordics in a decade — a 2,600 km fiber cable from northern Sweden to Berlin, capable of carrying all Nordic data traffic.
An ambitious long‑term project
GlobalConnect Step 1 begins in 2025 with seabed surveys along the optimal route and other preparatory work. The Swedish government is discussing constructing a new icebreaker capable of breaking through up to four meters of uncharted Arctic ice. When the cable is laid, the new vessel and the Swedish icebreaker Oden will be deployed together. The cable is planned to be laid at depths around 4,000 meters in the Arctic Ocean and is expected to be completed by 2030.
The Nordic partners behind GlobalConnect
- Vetenskapsrådet via Sunet
- NORDUnet
- The Swedish Polar Research Secretariat
- Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
- GlobalConnect