Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has advised French bank Natixis in connection with financing of the first North American Arctic subsea fiber-optic cable network connecting communities in western and northern Alaska.

The project will provide high-speed connectivity to the communities of Nome, Kotzebue, Point Hope, Wainwright, Barrow, and to the major oilfield facilities at Prudhoe Bay on the Beaufort Sea. Phase 1 is scheduled to be in-service in 2017.

The cable project, developed by Anchorage-based Quintillion, consists of 3 fiber pair systems of 10 Tbps each, resulting in a total capacity of 30 Tbs. The subsea system is a 1,180 mile submarine cable network with landings in 6 northern Alaska communities. The terrestrial network consists of 240 miles of buried fiber.

When complete, the Quintillion Subsea Cable System will provide a diverse fiber route out of the United States and between Europe and Asia, and a shorter fiber-optic cable connection between Asia and Europe. The project has already executed long-term offtake contracts with Alaskan telecommunication/service companies and expects to enter into more contracts once the project is built.

Energy and Infrastructure Finance partner Daniel Michalchuk, said.

“Since the advent of the commercially financed independent cable operator model, Milbank has been advising in the subsea cable sector and has been involved in many subsea cable projects around the world. We are thrilled to help secure another financing of an intercontinental subsea cable system.”

Global Corporate partner John Franchini:

“We were pleased to work with Natixis, Quintillion and Cooper Investment Partners LLC on this important and innovative subsea telecommunications cable project.  The completion of this financing further highlights the continued interest from sponsors, equity funds and debt financing providers in this expanding asset class – a trend that we expect will continue.”