Apollo (cable system)

Apollo
Owners:
Apollo Submarine Cable System Ltd
Landing points
Total length13,000 km
TopologyTwo fully diverse paths
Design capacityover 3.2 Tbit/s per Leg
Currently lit capacityunknown
TechnologyFibre Optic DWDM
Date of first useearly 2003 (2003)

Apollo is an optical submarine communications cable system crossing the Atlantic Ocean, owned by Vodafone. [2] It consists of 2 segments North and South, creating two fully diverse transatlantic paths.

In early 2006, Level 3 Communications announced its purchase of 300 Gbit/s of capacity between Apollo North and Apollo South with an option to purchase up 300 Gbit/s of future capacity. This acquisition gives Level 3 a transatlantic path that does not pass through either London or New York City, which is desirable to carriers due to network diversity concerns. This purchase represents the single largest transaction of sub-sea capacity in history without laying new cable.

Principal access points

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Apollo has principal access points at the following locations:[3]

United States
United Kingdom
France

Security breach

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In February 2018, The Sunday Times reported that the infrastructure for the UK landing site of the Apollo, GLO-1 and Europe India Gateway cables had been found almost entirely unprotected. Their reporter was able to reach the premises without being challenged, and found the door to the generator room unlocked and left ajar. Vodafone, who manage the facility, said that he had not reached critical equipment and "would not have been able to interrupt the operation of the facility."[4][5]

References

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  1. ^ Apollo Submarine Cable System (3 October 2008). "Submarine Cable Awareness Chart: Apollo North & Apollo South Submarine Cable System" (PDF).
  2. ^ Submarine Telecoms Forum, Inc. (July 2012). "Submarine Cable Industry Report Issue 1" (PDF). p. 36. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Apollo Submarine Cable System". Vodafone. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  4. ^ Gabriel Pogrund (4 February 2018). "Data-cable security scandal: It's easier to enter than a public library". The Sunday Times. p. 9.
  5. ^ Hookham, Mark; Pogrund, Gabriel (4 February 2018). "Revealed: how reporter strolled into UK's 'secure' data‑cable sites". The Times. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
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