Apollo Submarine Cable System

Seamless communications through two transatlantic cables from the USA to Europe

Apollo is a 13,000 km long optical submarine communications cable system crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two of the most advanced transatlantic fibre optic cables: Apollo North which connects the UK and the US, and Apollo South which connects France and the US.

Key features

Operates four cable stations in three countries, one in the United Kingdom, one in France and two in the US.

This design maximises the route separation of Apollo's submarine cables giving Apollo’s customers the security of full diversity.

Offers transatlantic wavelength products: 10Gbit/s SDH, WAN PHY and LAN PHY services, and 100GigE and OUT-4 services.

Access points: City PoP to city PoP, and cable station access and co-location.

Extends capacity from Europe, Africa and from Asia to North America.

Apollo makes capacity available to customers through a variety of commercial models, such as Leases, Capitalised Leases and IRU’s.

Cable system information

Product information

Transatlantic twin cables

With two separate submarine legs, Apollo has a fully diverse topology, providing discrete routing.

Additionally, the unique position of Apollo’s southern leg provides variety from the more congested routes between London and New York, enhancing choice and security.

Seamless connectivity

The capacity of the Apollo system is 8 terabits per fibre pair on both the northern and southern segments.

We fully own the cable system, offering you point-to-point 10Gbit/s and 100Gbit/s wavelengths between major cities and carrier PoPs on the East Coast of the US and Western Europe.

Colocation at Landing Stations

Apollo’s landing stations are highly specified telecom buildings that provide first-class space, power, security, first-line support and are well provided with backhaul networks.

Both EIG and Glo1 cables share Apollo North UK cable station allowing seamless and economic interconnection between cable systems.

The Apollo Cable Route

Explore Vodafone’s Global Infrastructure map to find Vodafone's connectivity presence across the globe.

Linking the USA to Europe

We're one of the world’s largest investors in submarine cables that reach more than 100 countries. Submarine cables stretch across oceans and carry 99% of the world’s intercontinental traffic, allowing people to be connected around the world.

Nearly 100% of the world’s intercontinental traffic moves in the oceans

13,000 km of excellence

Consisting of two advanced transatlantic fibre optic cables, Apollo is a 13,000 km optical submarine communications cable system crossing the Atlantic ocean. Apollo North connects the United Kingdom and the USA, while Apollo South connects France and the USA.

Apollo’s recent deployment of 100G coherent technology has significantly increased the available capacity on the Apollo system to 8 terabits per second per fibre pair on both the northern and southern segments. This further enhances global connectivity for broadband content and applications, as well as bandwidth-intensive cloud computing services.

We fully own the systems, and we have a significant presence in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific through our subsidiaries, joint ventures, and associated undertakings and investments.

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 provides significantly more crush resistance than other systems.
The latest plough burial techniques give the system 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.

Download our product sheet

Why partners choose the Apollo Submarine Cable System

Highest specifications

Apollo is engineered to the highest specifications using leading-edge installation techniques

Strongest cable design

Apollo is the strongest system in existence, with special Double Armour cable deployed in areas where the risk of cable break was considered the highest

Unparalleled reliability

An unparalleled track record of reliability means Apollo’s customer list includes the world’s leading telecommunications and internet companies

Industry recognition

Finalist

Best Global Wholesale Carrier - Data
Global Carrier Awards 2017
Capacity Media

Winner

Best Network Transformation
World Communication Awards 2016
Total Telecom

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About Vodafone Carrier Services

Vodafone’s Carrier Services division (VCS) manages the commercial relationships with over 1,000 communications service providers globally and offers a broad portfolio of voice, network connectivity, and messaging services.

Vodafone has one of the most reliable and wide-reaching global networks that spans across and between Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. It is ranked in the Top 10 Global Internet Providers and for the fourth consecutive year is the world’s largest international voice carrier.

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Through a single connection to Vodafone, a service provider can support its worldwide communication needs and access the unrivalled scale and extended global reach of Vodafone’s network, benefiting from the same quality management used to support its own global customers.