Polar Connect – Charting the Arctic Path to Global Connectivity
GlobalConnect has joined Nordic project Polar Connect to develop global Arctic fiber cable linking Europe, Asia, and the US
A Nordic consortium of five, are exploring the possibility of building one of the largest digital infrastructure projects in European history. Polar Connect is a visionary global initiative to establish a high-capacity submarine cable linking Northern Europe and East Asia via the Arctic Ocean — the shortest route between the two continents. Designed to support 12 to 24 fiber pairs, the cable will offer ultra-high transmission capacity while avoiding geopolitically sensitive zones such as the Red Sea, which currently carries around 90% of Europe-Asia communications.
Why the project matters
The Red Sea is a route increasingly impacted by geopolitical challenges. The ambition of the Polar Connect project is to offer a significantly safer and shorter route via the Arctic, which will decrease the time to send data, cut latency and improve resilience. GlobalConnect brings several years of experience from deploying sea cables in Scandinavia, recently completing the largest digital infrastructure project in the Nordics for the last decade, a 2600 km fiber cable from Northern Sweden to Berlin, capable of transporting all data in the Nordics.
Polar Connect Step 1
Polar Connect Step 1 is powered by a consortium of five key beneficiaries: NORDUnet, The Swedish Research Council, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (SPRS), DTU/DeiC and GlobalConnect. The parties will ensure the long-term success of the Polar Connect initiative by mitigating geographic, geopolitical, and environmental risks early in the planning phase.
An ambitious long-term project
Polar Connect Step 1 started in 2025, with bottom surveys of the optimal route and other preparations being made. The Swedish government is discussing the build of a brand-new ice breaker vessel, capable of breaking through four-meter-thick and unexplored Arctic ice. When the cable is to be laid, the new vessel and the Swedish ice breaker Oden will be used simultaneously. The cable is set to be deployed at ~4000-meter depth in the Arctic Ocean – and is planned to be ready by 2030.
Learn more
Explore the broader Polar Connect Initiative and how it supports secure, scalable, and future-ready digital infrastructure across the Arctic region.
Polar Connect Step 1 Project is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. [Project Acronym: 23-EU-DIG-PC1]