The competition for digital infrastructure is heading to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, as Norway's Polk Infrastructure seeks to develop a submarine communications cable linking Norway to Canada via a route that avoids US territory, in an effort to diversify data transmission methods and enhance the resilience of international communications.
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The project comes at a time when submarine cables are becoming increasingly important for the digital economy, with the expansion of data centers, cloud computing and artificial intelligence applications .
The project, named "Leif Erikson," aims to provide a direct route between Northern Europe and Eastern Canada, before extending across Canadian territory to Montreal. However, the project is still a proposal that needs funding, partners, and regulatory approvals. Therefore, its potential impact on communications security and digital sovereignty depends on its completion and entry into service, not just its design.
These figures differ from the initial estimates announced by the company in 2021, when it spoke of a 4,200-kilometer-long submarine cable, reflecting the evolving planning details of the project.
Bypassing U.S. territory means that the proposed route will not need to cross the United States to reach Canada, but it does not necessarily mean foregoing all U.S. networks or services that the data might later connect to.
Why is Canada looking for alternative routes?
One of the main motivations for the project is to diversify the infrastructure that Canada relies on for international internet connectivity. Newspaper reports, citing Bloomberg, indicate that a large portion of Canadian data and communications traffic passes through American networks, raising questions about the resilience of communications if some routes are disrupted or restricted.
The issue takes on added significance given the tensions between Washington and Ottawa, and Canada's interest in enhancing its capacity to manage critical infrastructure. In this context, Peder Nerbo, founder and co-CEO of Polk Infrastructure, presented the project as part of a more independent Canadian communications network, providing direct connectivity to European infrastructure. This is the company's stated vision, but it is not evidence that the project will achieve complete independence from American networks.
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