EXA Infrastructure, Macarne partner for network growth into Europe

Advanced network solutions and IP Transit specialist Macarne has entered into a partnership with digital infrastructure platform provider EXA Infrastructure for critical backbone infrastructure.

With more than 20 years of experience in building resilient networks, EXA Infrastructure provides critical modern infrastructure and “unrivalled” engineering expertise to serve as the backbone for digital and economic growth. This includes networks for governments and enterprises, hyperscale infrastructure for global businesses and ultra-low latency, high bandwidth networks for financial, gaming and broadcast services.

The company owns 155,000 kilometres of fibre network across 37 countries, including six transatlantic cables, and claims the lowest latency link between Europe and North America, EXA Express. More than 65,000km of the network is 400G enabled, offering further scalability and ensuring ultra-low latency and high bandwidth connectivity across continents.

Following the October 2023 introduction of the Havfrue and Dunant subsea cables, connecting to its European backbone, in January 2024 EXA announced its sixth transatlantic subsea cable route in the form of Amitié, linking the strategic hubs of Boston in the US, Slough in the UK and Bordeaux in France, where onward connectivity can be provided to anywhere on EXA’s owned network.

In July 2024, it signed a strategic partnership with SOCAR Fiber to develop a terrestrial fibre optic route designed to provide diversity to the traditional Red Sea corridor used by submarine cables.

The new partnership will take advantage of EXA Infrastructure’s network footprint of more than 500 optical Points of Presence, allowing for onward connectivity to major hubs around Europe, including Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

EXA Infrastructure is said to have been selected for the project by Macarne due to its six diverse routes across the Atlantic, including EXA Express. “EXA Infrastructure bridges our European and US markets, strengthening our global presence with access to one of the most modern and advanced fibre networks on the market,” said Macarne managing member Arne Ruhnau commenting on the deal.

“We’re pleased with how quickly this deal has come together, and we see EXA Infrastructure not just as a vendor but as a true partner, helping us lay a strong foundation for our global IP transit network.”

EXA Infrastructure chief commercial officer Nicholas Collins added: “Route diversity is increasingly important for our customers, particularly on trans-Atlantic routes which are critical for modern digital businesses.

“The optionality we can provide for trans-Atlantic connectivity will enable Macarne to scale their network and be highly responsive to supporting their customers.”