Email: minister.industry@ic.gc.ca
October 2, 2012
The Honourable Christian Paradis, PC, MP,
Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)
Government of Canada,
235 Queen Street,
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H5
Dear Minister,
Application for International Submarine Cable Licence
Pursuant to section 19 of the Telecommunications Act (S.C. 1993, c.38), Arctic Fibre Inc. herein applies for a
terminating cable licence and a through cable licence.
The bifurcated application is being made due to the fact that two of the four fibre pairs contained within the
same cable will form an express international network between Maruyama, Japan and Bude, United Kingdom.
The third express fibre will run from Maruyama, Japan to Milton, Newfoundland with onward connection to the
United States via domestic terrestrial networks and international subsea fibre at Halifax. The fourth fibre will
form a local network linking Maruyama, Japan to Milton, Newfoundland via intermediate points in the United
States and Canada.
Arctic Fibre will situate a cable landing station (CLS) at Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada to regenerate the fibre
optic signals but there will be no signal handoff between the three express pairs and Canadian domestic
network. A network schematic and route map are appended to the application to provide clarity.
Name of the Applicant: Arctic Fibre Inc.
Address: 3 Otter Crescent, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5N 2W1
Telephone Number: 416-613-6263
Email contact: doug@arcticfibre.com
Incorporation Details: Arctic Fibre Inc. was incorporated under the laws of Ontario on December 18, 2007
under Ontario Corporation Number 002157999
The Intended Route of the Cable:
Through (Express) Cable Landing Stations:
Bude, Cornwall, England: 5047842N, 0433442W
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada: 6906897N, 10503587W
Maruyama, Japan: 3500327N, 13958525E
Terminating (Canadian) Landing Stations:
Milton, Newfoundland and Labrador: 481337N, 535745W
Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador: 5708730N, 5627510W
Iqaluit, Nunavut: 6343921N, 6827167W
Cape Dorset, Nunavut: 6413814N, 7632961N
Hall Beach, Nunavut: 6845212N, 8112591W
Igoolik, Nunavut: 6922566N, 8147127W
Taloyoak, Nunavut: 6930783N, 9330584W
Goja Haven, Nunavut 6837528N, 9552942W
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut: 6906897N, 10503587W
Note: The beach manhole (BMH) coordinates provided for the Canadian landings are approximate and based upon desk top surveys.
Further physical and marine survey work and commercial arrangements may result in a slight alteration in these coordinates.
The Arctic Fibre express system will originate in London England with multiple fibre connections to several
carrier hotels. Leased terrestrial fibre will carry the network through the Apollo Cable landing station at Bude,
Cornwall, England across the Atlantic to an underwater branching unit (UBU) situated at approximately
6077536N, 6237300N. At this point the network intersects with the Milton/Iqaluit segment.
Slightly north at the east end of the Hudson Strait (6060000N, 6300000W), the express line diverts from the
Milton/Iqaluit spur and proceeds westerly through the Hudson Strait, Foxe Basin and the Gulf of Boothia to Lord
Mayor Bay. A terrestrial crossing of the Boothia Peninsula (approximately 45 km) will take place to eliminate the
cost and ice scour risk associated with a more northerly passage. The cable re-enters the water at Taloyoak
and proceeds south through the Rae Strait to Cambridge Bay where dual approaches will take it into the
Cambridge Bay CLS. Proceeding westerly the fibre leaves Canadian waters at 723800N, 1375100W and enters
U.S. waters.
The fibre crosses the Beaufort Sea, the Bering Strait and the Bering Sea with six spurs serving remote
communities in Alaska. From the Aleutian Islands the fibre proceeds in international waters to the Maruyama,
Japan CLS. Offshore Japan, provision is being made for an underwater branching unit to connect to another
fibre system which would eventually land at Chongming (Shanghai), China.
Network Technical Design:
Arctic Fibre's network will consist of two "express" fibre pairs between Tokyo and London, each fibre pair
having the capacity to transmit at least 80 wavelengths lit at 100 Gigabits. As such the theoretical combined
capacity of the Tokyo to London express fibres is 16 terabits, the Tokyo to Newfoundland express segment
capacity is 8 terabits and the local fibre running between Tokyo and Newfoundland serving Alaska, the
Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Northern Quebec and Labrador will also have a theoretical capacity of 8
terabits.
Additional spurs are proposed off the fourth fibre pair to provide future service to Labrador, the Nunavik region
of Northern Quebec, and the Kivalliq and Qikiqtani regions of Nunavut. The network will provide more than
57,000 Canadians with their first broadband telecommunications service.
The Arctic Fibre network will utilize Optical Add Drop Multiplexing (OADM) technology to ensure that if a spur
from the backbone to any specific community is severed, service to other communities is not interrupted. Arctic
Fibre has requested firm turnkey proposals from both Alcatel/Lucent and TE Subcom which are the dominant
companies in the supply and installation of submarine networks worldwide. This requested inservice date is
November 1, 2014.
Compliance with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act:
Arctic Fibre has completed an end to end desk top survey (DTS) of the network between Bude, Cornwall, UK CLS
and the Maruyama, Japan CLS which can be provided to Industry Canada upon request. It is our intention to
complete the full marine survey of the route during 2013Q2-Q3 and which time the exact landing points will be
determined having taken into account: fishing grounds, marine anchorages, tidal flows and currents, ice scour,
nearshore seabed conditions and terrestrial linkages to the remote community points of presence.
At that juncture Arctic Fibre will perform the requisite environmental reviews under the Canadian
Environmental Assessment Act in consultation with the Nunavut Impact Review Board and Environment Canada.
The installation of a subsea telecommunications network is recognized as being environmentally positive
because of the resultant change in consumer behavior (i.e. telecommuting and fewer airline trips). The majority
of the subsea fibre consists of inert, high-density polyethylene, single-armored fibre less than 18mm in diameter
surface laid on the ocean floor. Nearshore double-armored cable is less than 38 mm in diameter and may be
buried as deep as 2.6m dependent upon ice scour and seabed conditions.
At Milton, Newfoundland and Labrador, Arctic Fibre is co-locating its facilities within the existing Tele-Greenland
landing station constructed in 2008. These cable approaches were the subject of a detailed environmental
assessment and permitting process and Trinity Bay has been utilized as a cable corridor without incident since
1866.
In the determination of near shore landings elsewhere in Labrador, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories,
Arctic Fibre took into consideration: water depths (deeper, steeper approaches being preferred), tidal activity,
currents, wind and wave motion, ice scour, fishing areas, lobster beds, ship anchorages, proximity to terrestrial
networks and services amongst other factors. At most landing sites, the fibre will be trenched into the sediment
up to 1.3 metres to preclude ice damage. In virtually all instances, tidal and wave action results in little or no
trace of the marine installation within one week.
Both Alcatel/Lucent and TE Subcom have more than a half century's expertise in the installation of
environmentally benign subsea cables, including those situated in Arctic regions.
Term of the Licence:
Arctic Fibre Inc. requests a licence for the maximum permitted term of 10 years with the provision to
automatically renew. As the Minister may appreciate, the physical lifespan of submarine fibre should exceed 25
years. However, in order to reduce prices paid by carriers and consumers the system is being depreciated over a
20-year time frame as opposed to the licence term of 10 years.
Telecommunications Policy Objectives:
The Arctic Fibre project does more to satisfy the policy objectives as outlined in Section 7 of the
Telecommunications Act, 1993 than any other singular telecommunications project in decades. Our project
addresses the needs and issues clearly identified in the Arctic Communications Infrastructure Assessment
published in April 2011. Specifically:
1. The network will extend affordable broadband services to Northern and Central Labrador, 52% of the
Nunavut population on the backbone (and potentially 90% through network spurs) to unserved regions
of Northern Quebec and the Northwest Territories;
2. The network will enhance the resilience of Canada's telecommunications network, by reducing
dependence upon satellite transmissions from the Anik F2 satellite;
3. The network will assist the government in national defence and sovereignty;
4. The network will enable NAV Canada to provide safer air navigation to both domestic and foreign
airlines;
5. The network will accelerate the development of competitive telecommunications in Newfoundland and
Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories; and
6. The system will enhance the use of Canadian transmission facilities for both domestic and international
telecommunications but also facilitate broadband capability on a global basis and enhance Canada's
trade linkages with the Asia-Pacific region.
The domestic and international segments of this network are inextricably linked from a physical, technical and
economic perspective. The bandwidth demands of international carriers will subsidize the cost of providing
much-needed bandwidth to Northern Canada.
Ownership:
As an international licencee Arctic Fibre Inc. will not be subject to the foreign ownership restrictions of the
Telecommunications Act, 1993. It is Arctic Fibre's intention to finance its construction using equity provided by
domestic institutional investors and to a lesser extent by foreign telecommunications carriers. Debt financing
will be provided by Canadian chartered banks using guarantees provided by the United States Export-Import
Bank or export credit agencies supported by the French government dependent upon the vendor selection.
At present 100% of the shares of Arctic Fibre Inc. are owned by Network Research Inc., an Ontario incorporation
with offices at 3 Otter Crescent, Toronto, Ontario M5N 2W1. All of the shareholders of Network Research are
Canadian citizens.
All four directors hold Canadian citizenship and have substantial experience in
telecommunications.
Network Equipment Supply and Maintenance:
Arctic Fibre will enter into a turnkey supply contract with either Alcatel/Lucent or TE Subcom. These companies
constitute two of three companies worldwide with the technical ability to construct a system of this length and
complexity. There are no Canadian manufacturers of subsea telecommunications equipment and only one
domestic company with limited installation capability, IT International Telecom. It is Arctic Fibre's intention to
utilize IT International Telecom for ongoing maintenance work upon completion of the system and it would be
our expectation that either turnkey contractor will subcontract a portion of the installation work to IT
International Telecom.
The company's landing stations at Cambridge Bay, Iqaluit and Milton will be staffed by Canadian residents.
Arctic Fibre will outsource maintenance responsibilities at its other Canadian landing points to third parties who
staff is Canadian.
Licence Fee:
A certified cheque in the amount of $100.00, payable to the Receiver-General for Canada, is appended to cover
the licence fee for the first year of the permit.
As you can appreciate, the international carrier community will not enter into enforceable contracts with Arctic
Fibre until such time as the requisite licences are obtained from the Government of Canada. Some of these
carriers are considering participation in the competing Russian Polarnet project and any undue delay in the
grant of the requisite licence could undermine the economics of the Arctic Fibre project.
You or your staff may direct any questions with regard to this application to the undersigned at the above
number or by email at: doug@arcticifibre.com. Additional background information can be found on our website:
www.arcticfibre.com
Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully Submitted on Behalf of
ARCTIC FIBRE INC.
Douglas G. Cunningham
President
c.c.: The Right Honourable Stephen Harper PC, MP
The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq PC, MP
The Honourable Gary Goodyear, PC, MP
The Honourable John Duncan PC, MP
The Honourable Joseph Oliver PC, MP
The Honourable Peter MacKay PC, MP
The Honourable Peter Penashue PC, MP
Senator Dennis Patterson PC, MP
Premier Kathy Dunderdale, Newfoundland and Labrador
Premier Eva Aariak, Government of Nunavut
Premier Bob McLeod, Government of the Northwest Territories
Terence Young, MP Oakville
Secretary-General, Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission
Helen McDonald, Industry Canada
Kelly Gillis, Industry Canada
Adam Scott, Industry Canada
Attachments:
Arctic Fibre System Overview East and West (2 pages)
Arctic Fibre Route Map
Certified Cheque payable to Receiver General for Canada