Zayo Unleashes the Power of Zeus

Zayo has launched its Zeus subsea route connecting the United Kingdom and continental Europe via access points in Lowestoft, United Kingdom and Zandvoort, Netherlands. Zayo engineered Zeus to be a dense, deeply-buried and robust cable available in the North Sea, and the route includes terrestrial backhaul connectivity to London and Amsterdam.

“Meeting the connectivity needs of tomorrow requires deploying the most advanced network today, and that’s exactly what we’ve built for customers who want a hyper-fast and ultra-reliable connection between the UK and mainland Europe,” said Jesper Aagaard, president of Zayo Europe. “Zeus is now the strongest connection available in the region. We utilized the best cable available, buried it deeper in the seabed than our competitors and made it even more reliable than alternatives. We are confident our customers will benefit from this project for years- and even decades- to come.”

Zeus was designed for speed, security and reliability. At 192 fibers, Zeus contains the highest fiber count connecting the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. Zayo used ultra-low loss (ULL) optical fibers, so wavelength throughput on a single channel between London and Amsterdam can reach up to 600G. To meet customers’ next-generation bandwidth needs, the network can handle 2,650 Tbps of C Band when at capacity.

Zeus is now the deepest-buried cable in the North Sea, located between two and three meters under the seabed in comparison with half a meter for existing, outdated cables. The cable is 100 percent dual-armored to prevent interference. To ensure an optimal customer experience, Zayo monitors Zeus via OTDR devices for rapid fault identification. In addition, Zayo leverages a 24 X 7 guard vessel to monitor activity along the path.

“The North Sea is an extremely challenging body of water for a subsea project like Zeus. Not only are there harsh weather conditions and relentless currents, the seabed is littered with items, some as simple as a discarded aluminum can and some as formidable as unexploded bombs left over from the Second World War,” said Geir Holmer, CEO of JTD Associates and a key consultant on the project. “Not only did we overcome these challenges, we worked tirelessly with Zayo to ensure this route was built to last – making it the most resilient route across the North Sea. I’m proud to have been part of this project, and what it will enable for decades to come.”

As part of the project, the team worked with the Royal Netherlands Navy to detonate a large, 80- year-old explosive that had been left on the seabed since World War II. The team also put sustainability first, working to limit disruption and preserve the ecology of the sea. More on the detonation, as well as the team’s process, is available here.

As customers come online on Zeus, Zayo continues to augment its European-based NOC to provide customers with best-in-class service. At a time when many in the industry are outsourcing essential customer support functions, Zayo is locating this team in its European headquarters, based in central London. Zayo’s European team also is preparing to launch a new ULL route connecting Frankfurt to Milan via Zurich, an important route for financial customers.

For more information, visit https://zayo.com.