Apollo

Overview

Apollo is a transatlantic submarine cable system spanning approximately 13,000 kilometres, connecting France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It serves the North Atlantic corridor, one of the most heavily trafficked routes in global telecommunications, linking Western Europe with the eastern seaboard of North America.

Route and Landings

In France, Apollo lands at Lannion, located on the Brittany coast in the northwest of the country.

In the United Kingdom, the cable comes ashore at Bude, on the north Cornwall coast of England.

In the United States, Apollo has two landing points: Manasquan, New Jersey, and Shirley, New York, both situated along the northeastern Atlantic coastline.

Ownership and Operators

Apollo is owned by Vodafone, the multinational telecommunications company headquartered in the United Kingdom. Vodafone operates across mobile and fixed-line services in numerous markets, and Apollo represents the company's direct transatlantic cable infrastructure.

Status and Timeline

Apollo entered service in 2003. The system has been operational for more than two decades, carrying transatlantic traffic across its three-country route.

Regional Context

The North Atlantic corridor hosts some of the longest and most extensive cable systems in the world. Among Apollo's regional peers, Project Waterworth stretches 50,000 kilometres and touches the United States, while 2Africa — at 45,000 kilometres, ready for service in 2024 — connects France and the United Kingdom as part of a far larger intercontinental loop. Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1), at 25,000 kilometres and in service since 2017, and PEACE Cable, also 25,000 kilometres with an RFS date of 2022, both reach France on their respective routes. Apollo is considerably shorter than these systems, reflecting its more direct point-to-point transatlantic design rather than a multi-regional circuit.

Performance measurements over the past 60 days, based on 65 ping tests, show an average round-trip latency of 28.7 milliseconds, with a best recorded result of 10.7 milliseconds. These figures are consistent with a direct transatlantic path of this distance.

Strategic Role

Apollo provides a direct transatlantic connection between France, the United Kingdom, and two distinct landing points on the US East Coast. The dual US landings at Manasquan and Shirley offer geographic separation on the American side, distributing traffic across New Jersey and New York. As a Vodafone-owned system, the cable serves the operator's own capacity needs across the Atlantic while contributing to the broader pool of transatlantic connectivity in the France–UK–US corridor.