From Europe to Asia via the North Pole: the 'secure network' plan against geopolitical escalations

The European Union is studying a new digital infrastructure to connect the continent to Asia through the Arctic, aiming to reduce the heavy dependence on routes that pass through the Middle East. Currently, about 90% of the internet traffic between Europe and Asia crosses areas such as the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, clearly vulnerable to military crises and international tensions.

According to reports from The Verge, Brussels is considering two possible underwater corridors. The first would pass through the Canadian Northwest Passage, while the second would start from Scandinavia and cross directly over the North Pole. The most well-known project, called Polar Connect, represents a concrete response to the repeated challenges that have affected traditional connections in recent years.

The situation deteriorated in 2024, when a Houthi missile hit a ship in the Red Sea. The out-of-control vessel dragged its anchor, damaging three underwater cables in the strait between Yemen and Djibouti. Repairs took over four months due to operational difficulties and risks for specialized ships. In September 2025, a new incident involved another four lines, with lengthy negotiation times before authorizing interventions.

Middle Eastern alternatives do not offer greater guarantees. The Persian Gulf also presents strong criticalities after the conflict between the United States and Iran, which slowed down projects like Meta's 2Africa. Meta itself attributed the delay in infrastructure realization to "force majeure" issues, while some Iranian government factions proposed taxing and controlling the cables in the Strait of Hormuz.

In this scenario, the polar route appears to be the only option capable of avoiding the influence of third governments like Russia or the United States. However, the technical complexities are considerable. The cables would need to face sea ice, icebergs, unstable seabeds, and extreme temperatures. Currently, there are no dedicated icebreaker cable-laying ships, which would require the use of at least two coordinated vessels or the development of new specialized platforms.

Maintenance also represents a crucial issue, and past experiences do not reassure. Quintillion, which acquired the activities of Arctic Fibre in 2016 for a Europe-Asia connection via Alaska, has suffered repeated interruptions. A failure in June 2023 required months of waiting for ice melt, while a second break in January 2025 left the connection offline for about eight months.

Despite these precedents, the EU considers Arctic investment a strategic priority to strengthen telecommunications security and build a backbone less exposed to the influence of other states. The declared objective aims for 2030 for operational readiness, although high costs, logistical complexities, and operational timing may affect the schedule.

Moreover, Europe is not alone in following this direction. Meta, with the Waterworth project announced in 2025, also aims to create new global routes capable of bypassing chokepoints like the Middle East and the Strait of Malacca. Thus, the game for the future of global digital infrastructures increasingly shifts towards the polar regions, where technology, geopolitics, and network resilience intersect decisively.