Study for the Black Sea Landing Point (BSLP)
This study will identify the best candidate locations for new and accessible landing points for future submarine cable systems on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.
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Locations |
Bulgaria – Varna and the Black Sea coast |
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Project start - end date (duration) |
(12 months) |
What will it provide?
Increasing connectivity in the region will help develop its economy and will also facilitate surveillance of the maritime border. It will allow better connectivity for businesses and tourism on the coastline and provide information to create more environmentally friendly landing points in the future.
The permanent expansion of Internet capacity alongside the geopolitical tension in the area creates the need for a new submarine cable system in the Black Sea. Existing landing points are privately owned and therefore cannot be used for new cable systems. The new landing points resulting from the study will complement and, in a later stage, potentially replace the current ones, which are to reach full capacity and end of life. The study aims to select the best locations.
How will it work?
The objective of the study is to prepare for potential future works to allow operators of submarine cable systems to choose the best locations for landing points along the Black Sea coast.
In addition to the traditional location of landing points on deserted beaches, this study will evaluate the potential for:
- A deep-water branch: this option would allow one interconnection in the sea to enable the new submarine cable system to provide tra?c distribution to multiple landing sites without the need to build it physically;
- A landing point in the city: while harbour territories are traditionally forbidden for the laying of submarine cables, if the submarine cable system is protected by a bore pipe, it would be possible to terminate underwater cable systems in an urban area directly at the interconnection point.
The study will evaluate and compare the cost of both options.
How is it financed?
The study for the Black Sea Landing Point has a total budget of €115 thousand, of which €57.5 thousand funded under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital programme.
Who is involved?
The Black Sea Landing Point study is being undertaken by Varna Net, as coordinator.
