Confluence Networks LLC has announced that MasTec Inc. has acquired an equity interest in Confluence, a Florida-based developer of undersea fiber-optic communications systems.

The investment will allow the company to complete development and construction of Confluence-1, the first undersea cable system dedicated to linking strategic global communications nodes on the East Coast of the United States, including: New York, NY; Miami, FL; Virginia Beach, VA; and Jacksonville, FL; and opening a new strategic node in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Confluence -1 is the first network to meet the need for direct, reliable, low-latency undersea connections among the major cable landings on the East Coast of the US, thus facilitating the interconnection of many intercontinental cable routes within the Americas, and between the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. The network specifically addresses the lack of availability of continuous dark fiber and truly diverse routing on the North-South route between New York and Miami.

Confluence-1 will serve as both an extension of, and a higher-quality, more robust, scalable alternative to the US coastal terrestrial network, as well as enabling highly diverse connections among international undersea cables and many new East Coast Data Centers. When fully implemented, its 24 fiber pairs will provide over 500 Tbps of capacity on the new route. The highly secure, resilient, and fault-tolerant technology provided by Confluence-1 will prove particularly valuable in times of national crisis and for disaster recovery.

Jose Mas, MasTec’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are delighted to play a significant role in this important new development as now is the perfect time to focus on true redundancy. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Confluence Networks, and to the future developments that will ensue as we deepen our involvement in the global communications community.”

Paul Scott, CEO of Confluence Networks, added, “We are fortunate to have MasTec as a partner in this enterprise, and excited to be working with them in realization of Confluence-1. We see Confluence-1 as an opportunity to make a game-changing addition to both the US domestic network and the intercontinental network on the East Coast, and look toward many more such opportunities as the global network evolves.” Confluence-1 is expected to be in service 2H-2023.