Clew Bay landing spot for trans-Atlantic cable

A LANDING station in Clew Bay to facilitate a trans-Atlantic fibre-optic cable has been granted planning permission by Mayo County Council.

America Europe Connect 2 Ltd sought planning permission for a single storey cable landing station with associated fencing, underground cabling, plant and all ancillary works at Old Head, near Louisburgh.

The works are part of a larger project to construct a trans-Atlantic fibre-optic cable from New Jersey in the USA to Blaabjerg in Sweden, with spurs to Ireland and Norway.

The application states that the cable landing station will be the interface between the sub-sea cable and the terrestrial network in Ireland. The cable landing station will have banks of electronic equipment and will be unmanned.

A number of conditions are attached to the grant of planning permission, including that the development will have regard for the status of the Old Head bathing area.

The cable will carry voice, data, videos, pictures and other telecoms messages between the two continents and could be operational by the end of the year.