French telecoms group Orange, infrastructure investor Equitix and Irish cable developer MDM have formed a joint venture to build Pisces, a new subsea cable linking Ireland directly to continental Europe. Orange announced the venture on 14 October 2026.
The cable is expected to be laid in 2028. The partners did not disclose its cost or how much EU funding it will receive.
The route
Pisces will run for about 3,125 km with 16 fibre pairs. It will land at Galway in Ireland, Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez in France, Sopelana in Spain, where Orange will build a new landing station, and Carcavelos in Portugal.
The partners say Ireland lacks direct cable links to mainland Europe. Ireland is a major hub for cloud and data centres, and Pisces is meant to connect those data centres directly to the continent and add a new route for resilience. It will be an “open-access” dark-fibre cable, meaning capacity can be sold to other operators.
Where the project stands
According to the release, the marine survey of the route, carried out by Orange subsidiaries Elettra Tlc and Orange Marine, was completed in August. Engineering and permits are now under way.
The project has “significant funding support” from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), a programme that co-funds cross-border infrastructure, but no amount was given. Light Reading described the cable as partly funded by the CEF. Equitix is investing through its Irish infrastructure fund, Equitix Infra Ireland, which is backed by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
Carine Romanetti has been appointed chief executive of the joint venture, PISCES Cable System Limited.
“As Europe accelerates its AI ambitions, subsea infrastructure along the Atlantic coast becomes more critical than ever,” said Valérie Cussac, chief executive of Orange Wholesale International.
What this means
- Ireland gets a direct line to the continent. Today most of its traffic goes via other routes.
- AI and cloud are driving cable demand. Data-centre hubs need more and more varied connections.
- Key details are missing. The cost and the EU’s contribution have not been disclosed.
Sources
- Orange SA, “Equitix, MDM and Orange form a joint venture to deliver the Pisces subsea cable system”, 14 October 2026, via 6ix. https://6ix.com/news/orange-equitix-mdm-and-orange-form-a-joint-venture-to-deliver-the-pisces-subsea-cable-system
- Light Reading (Paul Rainford), “Eurobites: Orange and friends look to develop Irish subsea link”, 14 October 2026. https://www.lightreading.com/cable-technology/eurobites-orange-and-friends-look-to-develop-irish-subsea-link
