CANTAT is an acronym for Canada TransAtlantic Telephone Cable, a series of
submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried tel ...
systems linking Canada with the U.K. and later Europe. The first cable was a joint venture of
Cable & Wireless and the
Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corporation
VSNL International Canada or Tata Communications (Canada) ULC (formerly Teleglobe) is an international telco carrier. The company is a subsidiary of Tata Communications, part of India's Tata Group and based in Montreal, Quebec. Part of their r ...
(COTC) implementing national policies to establish a Commonwealth Round the World Cable System.
The name has been applied to three systems.
CANTAT-1
CANTAT-1 CANTAT-1 was the first Canadian transatlantic telephone cable, between Hampden, Newfoundland and eventually Grosses-Roches, Quebec and Oban, United Kingdom, which followed on from the success of TAT-1. It was conceived and approved as stage one ...
: Completed in 1961 by Cable & Wireless and Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corporation (COTC). The system was installed in two segments as the first phase of the global system. The transatlantic segment linked
Oban, Scotland
Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...
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Hampden, Newfoundland on
White Bay. The second undersea segment, linked by a land line to the White Bay terminus and completing the link to mainland Canada, was laid between
Corner Brook, Newfoundland
Corner Brook ( 2021 population: 19,333 CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador. ...
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Grosses Roches, Quebec. The official inauguration of the system was on December 19, 1961 when Canadian Prime Minister
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...
answered a call from Queen Elizabeth II. It was decommissioned in 1974.
[
]
CANTAT-2
CANTAT-2
CANTAT-2 was the second Canadian transatlantic telephone cable,
in operation from 1974 to 1992.
It could carry 1,840 simultaneous telephone calls
between Beaver Harbour, Nova Scotia and England. The parties involved were Canadian Overseas Telecom ...
: Completed in 1974 by the British General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
and Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corporation (COTC). The cable with 489 repeaters linked Beaver Harbour, Canada with Widemouth Bay
Widemouth Bay ( kw, Porth an Men) is a bay, beach and small village on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, England, UK. It is about 3 miles (5 km) south of Bude. This stretch of coast is steeped in the smuggling history of times before, and ...
, England. The cable was withdrawn from service in 1992 but the Canadian end was rerouted to Sable Island
Sable Island (french: île de Sable, literally "island of sand") is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island i ...
and recommissioned as SITIFOG 2000 until it was abandoned after developing a fault.
CANTAT-3
CANTAT-3
CANTAT-3 was the third Canadian transatlantic telecommunications cable, in regular operation from 1994 to 2010, carrying 3 x 2.5 Gbit/s between Canada and Europe. It branches to both Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It is out of normal service for ...
: The third CANTAT, operational 1994–2010, was a system with a Canadian terminus in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
and eastern termini at Vestmannaeyjar
Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland.
The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyja ...
, Iceland, Tjørnuvík
Tjørnuvík ( da, Tjørnevig) is the northernmost village on Streymoy in Sunda Municipality, Faroe Islands. As of the 2006 census, the population has a total of 71 people.
The town uses the Stakkur sea stack for sheep grazing, accessed by cabl ...
, Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
, Redcar
Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough.
The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of ...
in the U.K., Blaabjerg
Until January 1, 2007, Blaabjerg (Danish: Blåbjerg - literally blue mountain) was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Ribe County on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 254 k ...
, Denmark to Sylt
Sylt (; da, Sild; Sylt North Frisian, Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian ...
, Germany.[
]
See also
Commonwealth Pacific Cable System
COMPAC, the Commonwealth Pacific Cable System, was an undersea telephone cable system connecting Canada with New Zealand and Australia. It was completed by closing the last gap in Honolulu Harbor, Hawaii, at 6:25 a.m. B.S.T. on October 10, 1 ...
References
Transatlantic communications cables
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