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Apollo Submarine Cable System

One of the most advanced transatlantic submarine fibre optic cable systems offering high capacity, resiliency, flexibility and reliability

The Apollo submarine cable system consists of two of the most advanced transatlantic fibre optic cables, and is one of the highest capacity cable systems across the Atlantic with an unparalleled track record of reliability.

Our customers include the world’s leading telecommunications and internet companies and the range of bandwidth intensive companies taking advantage of Apollo's first class network architecture is always growing.

The network incorporates multiple fibre pairs throughout its 13,000 km length and offers point to point 10Gbps and 100Gbps wavelengths between the major cities and carrier points of presence (POPs) on the US Eastern seaboard and Western Europe, but lower capacities are also available. Apollo North connects the United Kingdom and the USA and Apollo South directly connects France and the USA.

Apollo provides services on an IRU basis and shorter term leases. We are able to provide draw down deals over extended periods. Most of our customers establish a master services agreement with us upon which subsequent capacity can be drawn down.

The network is owned and operated by Apollo Submarine Cable System Limited, a Vodafone Group Limited Company.


Routing

Apollo was designed and built to deliver bandwidth between London and New York and bandwidth between Washington DC and Paris via two linear paths. This architecture was implemented to support Apollo's customers in the creation of the robust networks. Apollo operates four cable stations in three countries, one in the United Kingdom, one in France and two in the United States. This design maximises the route separation of Apollo's submarine cables giving Apollos' customers the security of full diversity.


Cable Station Access

inbodyimage-CS-Apollo Submarine Cable System

Our principal access points are at the following addresses although we can deliver to a number of European carrier hotels on the Vodafone European network, including Frankfurt, Amsterdam etc.

United States United Kingdom France
111/8th Avenue, New York Telehouse West, East, North Global Switch
60 Hudson Street, New York Global Switch Interxion
165 Halsey, New Jersey Telecity, Harbour Exchange SFR Netcenter
2100 M Street, Washington DC Cable station in Cornwall Telehouse 1, 2 and 3
Equinix, Ashburn Equinix, Slough Equinix, Paris
US cable stations in Long Island
and New Jersey
   

Latency and Round Trip Delay

Route Latency (ms) Round Trip Delay (ms)
London – New York 34.95 69.90
Paris – Washington 38.55 77.10
Paris – New York 37.00 74.00
Apollo North Cable Station – Cable
Station
30.90 61.80
Apollo South Cable Station – Cable
Station
32.65 63.30

Colocation

Apollo's landing stations are highly specified telecom buildings, all newly built at the time of the company's creation. They provide first class space, power, security and first line support and are well provided with backhaul networks.

A number of customers have used Apollo landing stations to install their own network equipment enabling them to manage their own terrestrial backhaul.

Both the EIG and Glo-1 cable systems share the Apollo North UK Cable Station. This allows for seamless, economic and efficient interconnection between cable systems thereby avoiding unnecessary backhaul cost, latency and risk. The Apollo cable can effortlessly extend capacity from Europe, Africa and Asia to North America.

Apollo is present in a number of the principal carrier hotels in Washington, New York, Paris and London.


Performance Data

Apollo's objective is to achieve the best performance statistics for an unprotected, city-to-city system across the Atlantic. From the initial design and throughout our service life, Apollo has utilised comprehensive planning, engineering and operational measures including:

  • Alcatel-Lucent's enhanced cable protection design to provide significantly more crush resistance than other systems
  • The latest plough burial techniques, offering the highest possible resilience to damage caused by external aggression
  • A fully diverse topology with two separate submarine legs connecting to four separate landing stations in 3 different countries
  • Physically diverse fibre routes on the backhaul where available
  • The unique position of Apollo's southern leg providing diversity away from the heavily congested routes in the UK and New York, enhancing choice and security

Apollo undertakes a continuous investment programme in its network so as to enhance and improve the network performance.

Apollo has the resilient high transatlantic capability in service today. It is the foundation that underpins the networks of many of the world's largest carriers and ISP's.


Operations

The Apollo cable system is an optically amplified network, which uses submerged repeaters to provide direct amplification to overcome the optical fibre attenuation. Each repeater has eight amplifiers, two required for every fibre pair. In addition, to provide the required availability, Apollo repeaters have redundant optical pumps and fully duplicated power units. The Apollo cable system conforms to ITU specifications and is designed to provide an error performance with an order of magnitude greater than G.826.

As Apollo South connects France and Washington D.C., it avoids heavily congested areas in the UK and in New York. This is a major differentiator, making the southern leg a favoured route choice for Apollo's customers.

Network Operations Centre (NOC)

  • Dedicated operation within the Vodafone Submarine Cable Operations
  • Cable engineers experienced in the operation of submarine cables
  • Management of network from city-to-city

Fully Diverse Operation Ensures Continuity of Operations

  • Duplicated servers - London and Birmingham
  • Fully managed Data Communication Network (DCN)
  • 24/7 operations at both sites

Submarine Cable Management

  • Cable monitoring performed at all landing stations controlled by the Apollo NOC
  • Reports compiled by the NOC:
    • Weekly
    • Monthly
    • Incident
    • Availability
  • Notification of network events and planned outage activity

Activations

  • Pre-provisioned capacity for rapid activation
  • Dedicated provisioning team
  • City-to-city test and commission

Information for fisherman

Apollo is committed to safe environmental practices, most importantly, ensuring that any risks to fishermen are minimised.

Where the waters are shallow, there can be a risk that fishing boats may dredge and unearth a previously buried cable. If fishing gear is caught on a cable, it can potentially put a crew and boat in serious danger.

Apollo continues to emphasise safety by making charts available to fishermen showing the location of the Apollo cables. To assist in the distribution of charts, Apollo regularly sends representatives to visit ports and talk to skippers.


Contact us

For Fault Reporting contact the Apollo NOC.

Email:ApolloNOC@vodafone.com

Visit Vodafone for Business to learn more about our submarine cable systems.

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