CenturyLink Taps Aqua Comms for High-Capacity Connection Between New York and London

Next-Generation Transatlantic Subsea Cable System America-Europe Connect Supports CenturyLink's International Operations


DUBLIN, IRELAND--(Marketwired - Jul 20, 2016) - Aqua Comms Limited, a provider of scalable, subsea capacity-based network solutions, and CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) announced today that CenturyLink has activated two 100 Gigabit waves of high capacity connectivity between New York and London on Aqua Comms' America-Europe Connect (AEConnect) subsea cable system. The provisioning of secure and reliable capacity on the next-generation subsea fibre optic network will support CenturyLink's U.S. to Europe broadband traffic.

"The circuits Aqua Comms has provided to CenturyLink from New York City to London are lit Point of Presence (PoP) to PoP with no intermediate or cable landing station regeneration," said Aqua Comms Chief Technology Officer Tom McMahon. "Traversing over 6,800 kilometers, the high capacity transatlantic route includes diverse terrestrial segments on both ends, enabling CenturyLink to provision end-to-end high capacity connectivity without regeneration, utilising advanced modulation techniques."

"This is a major milestone for CenturyLink's international network. We now can control the provisioning, monitoring and troubleshooting of end-to-end connectivity between our U.S. network and any CenturyLink Point of Presence on our European network," states CenturyLink Senior Vice President of Network Planning, Pieter Poll. "Our multinational customers require seamless connectivity to accommodate today's key business applications and we're confident that this new Aqua Comms AEConnect fibre optic cable system will provide an important link between two of the world's most vital social and economic hubs."

According to telecom analyst firm TeleGeography, transatlantic bandwidth is in high demand and the New York-to-London route is the second-largest international internet traffic route globally with multiple terabits of peak traffic.

CenturyLink's selection of Aqua Comms' AEConnect supplies critical, high capacity transatlantic connectivity to the company's global footprint and technology innovations that connect consumers and businesses to the power of the digital world. Aqua Comms' subsea fibre optic network is designed to meet the needs of carriers, global service providers, cloud-based networks, financial services companies, and Over-the-Top (OTT) content providers, as well as the global media.

For more information about AEConnect, visit www.AquaComms.com or email info@aquacomms.com. More information about CenturyLink can be found at www.centurylink.com.

About Aqua Comms Limited

Aqua Comms Limited (Aqua Comms) is the owner and operator of the transatlantic cable AEConnect and the Irish Sea cable CeltixConnect, and was established to build, acquire or merge with subsea fiber optic cable networks to provide capacity networking solutions to the global media, content providers and IT companies. To learn more about Aqua Comms and its new transatlantic subsea cable system, AEConnect, visit www.AquaComms.com.

About CenturyLink

CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is a global communications, hosting, cloud and IT services company enabling millions of customers to transform their businesses and their lives through innovative technology solutions. CenturyLink offers network and data systems management, Big Data analytics and IT consulting, and operates more than 55 data centers in North America, Europe and Asia. The company provides broadband, voice, video, data and managed services over a robust 250,000-route-mile U.S. fiber network and a 300,000-route-mile international transport network. Visit www.centurylink.com for more information.

Company ProfileAqua Comms