The IOEMA Project, which plans to lay submarine fiber optic cables in Northern Europe, has selected Greenhouse Datacenters in Westland as an additional landing station for the IOEMA submarine cable that comes ashore at Scheveningen/The Hague. This is the seventh landing point in Northern Europe and the second landing location in the Netherlands for the IOEMA submarine cable. The first landing location will be in Eemshaven.
The IOEMA project is realizing an ultra-modern, AI-ready, high-capacity fiber optic connection between the five most important Northern European markets. Over a distance of 1,600 kilometers, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Norway will be directly connected, while connectivity with France is also being explored. IOEMA is taking international tensions and security into account by fully armoring the submarine cable and securing it along its entire length. IOEMA is also considering adding sensors to the system, making it the first SMART cable in Northern Europe. IOEMA is collaborating on this initiative with partners including Eurofiber, Arelion, Colt, EXA Infrastructure, Relined, Bulk, and EWE TEL.
The latest collaboration with Greenhouse Datacenters is partly motivated by the location of these Tier III data centers in South Holland, in the Westland region, approximately 12 kilometers from the point where the submarine cable from the North Sea comes ashore in Scheveningen/The Hague. The extensive presence of connectivity partners in Greenhouse’s data centers also plays a role, including AMS-IX, Lumen, Delta Fiber, Odido, and DCspine, in addition to IOEMA partners such as Eurofiber and Relined.
“We are delighted to announce an additional landing partner for the second Dutch landing point of the IOEMA fiber optic cable, in the Rotterdam/The Hague region,” says Eckhard Bruckschen, CTO of IOEMA Fibre Ltd. “By working with Greenhouse Datacenters, IOEMA can connect to the connectivity ecosystem present there, including a direct AMS-IX PoP on-site. This will make the IOEMA submarine cable accessible to the broader market in South Holland and beyond. Organizations in this region can benefit from ultra-fast, redundant, secure, and AI-ready connections to other internet hubs in Northern Europe via Greenhouse.”
Greenhouse Datacenters: strategic digital hub
According to Greenhouse Datacenters CEO Ruben van der Zwan, the choice of Greenhouse Datacenters as the landing partner for the IOEMA submarine cable emphasizes the strategic importance of these data centers in Westland for the South Holland region and the Netherlands as a whole.
“The Axiom/Terabit report ‘Study on the development of submarine cables’, which was recently on the agenda in the Dutch House of Representatives, discussed at length the strategic national importance of new submarine cables for the Netherlands,” says Van der Zwan. “New submarine cables strengthen the digital business climate in the Netherlands. Together with data centers and internet exchanges, such a submarine cable forms the basis for further economic development of the Netherlands as an international digital hub. The landing of the submarine cable at Greenhouse Datacenters is therefore much more than just a strong international network connection. It strengthens the Netherlands’ European digital and economic competitiveness, our data sovereignty, and digital resilience, while reducing vulnerability to network sabotage and damage.”
“At the same time, it positions Greenhouse Datacenters emphatically as a strategic addition to the busy Amsterdam data center market,” says Van der Zwan. “The ultra-low latency between Greenhouse and Amsterdam. The AMS-IX PoP on-site at Greenhouse. Our sustainability, available power, and scalability. And now the direct connections to Northern European internet hubs via the IOEMA submarine cable. It makes Greenhouse an important strategic data center alternative to Amsterdam in South Holland.”
“The landing station for the submarine cable at Greenhouse is much more than a technical facility; it is a strategic digital hub,” says Rick Pijpers, who is involved in the project as a strategic advisor via PWDR.AI. “A data center that functions as a landing station becomes a gateway to international data traffic, attracting ecosystems of carriers, cloud providers, and enterprises, thereby strengthening the digital economy. For Greenhouse and IOEMA, this not only strengthens their own position, but also boosts international connectivity between Norway, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belgium. This creates a new sovereign AI corridor connecting the locations where AI factories will be established in the coming years with important locations such as The Hague, Rotterdam, and Brussels.”
According to Peter van Burgel, CEO of AMS-IX, the landing of the submarine cable in Greenhouse’s data centers in Westland strengthens the AMS-IX Point-of-Presence located here. “This makes Greenhouse a powerful digital hub and an important alternative for the Amsterdam data center market,” says Van Burgel. “Enhanced by AI applications, the IOEMA submarine cable will bring a lot of international digital traffic to Greenhouse, while the existing AMS-IX PoP will enable direct exchange with international and regional carrier, cloud, ISP, and content networks. This will ensure speed, redundancy, and (cost) efficiency in network traffic, which will strengthen the South Holland region as a whole as a digital hub.”