AmeriCan-1: A Short Submarine Cable Linking Canada and the United States
The AmeriCan-1 submarine cable spans 140 kilometers, connecting Canada and the United States across the Pacific Northwest. Its landing points include
Cordova Bay and
Esquimalt in Canada, and
Oak Harbor,
Point Roberts, and
Seattle in the United States. The cable is owned by Bell Canada, Ledcor Industries Inc., Rogers Communications, and Zayo, and is listed as in service. While its design capacity, fiber pair count, supplier, and technology are not disclosed in publicly available records, the cable remains a key piece of infrastructure for data transmission between these regions.
What stands out about AmeriCan-1 is its relatively short length compared to other transnational submarine cables, which often span thousands of kilometers. Additionally, its ready-for-service year of 1999 is recorded in the GeoCables database, but industry sources do not widely discuss this cable, leaving room for uncertainty about its historical development and technological specifications.
Quick facts
| Cable name | AmeriCan-1 |
| Length | 140 km |
| Ready-for-service year | 1999 (GeoCables database value) |
| Owners | Bell Canada, Ledcor Industries Inc., Rogers Communications, Zayo |
| Status | In service |
| Design capacity | Not disclosed |
| Fiber pairs | Not disclosed |
| Supplier | Not disclosed |
| Technology | Not disclosed |
| Landing points | Cordova Bay (Canada); Esquimalt (Canada); Oak Harbor (United States); Point Roberts (United States); Seattle (United States) |
🗺 Show AmeriCan-1 on the interactive cable map
Route
AmeriCan-1 connects five landing points in the Pacific Northwest. On the Canadian side, it lands at Cordova Bay and Esquimalt, both located on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. On the U.S. side, it connects Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island, Point Roberts near the Canadian border, and Seattle, a major urban hub in Washington State. The cable's route is entirely within the relatively shallow waters of the Salish Sea, a region known for its complex coastal geography.
Why it was built and what it carries
The AmeriCan-1 cable was likely built to enhance connectivity between Canada and the United States in the Pacific Northwest, a region with significant economic and technological interdependence. It serves as a cross-border link for telecommunications and data traffic, supporting businesses, internet service providers, and other entities in both countries. However, without public disclosure of its design capacity or fiber pair count, the specific scale of its data transmission capabilities remains unknown.
History: what can be established
The GeoCables database records AmeriCan-1's ready-for-service year as 1999, but there is limited public information to corroborate this date. Industry sources do not widely discuss the cable, which is unusual given its cross-border significance. Possible explanations for the lack of documentation include the cable's relatively short length, its niche role in regional connectivity, or its overshadowing by larger trans-Pacific systems.
Capacity and technology
Publicly available records do not disclose AmeriCan-1's design capacity, fiber pair count, supplier, or specific technology. Without operator documentation, it is impossible to state these parameters definitively. Given its 1999 ready-for-service year, the cable likely employs technology from the late 1990s, but whether it has been upgraded since then is unclear.
Latency: the physics
Theoretical one-way latency over AmeriCan-1's 140 km wet segment is approximately 0.7 milliseconds, with a round-trip time (RTT) floor of 1.4 milliseconds, assuming light travels at 200-204,000 km/s in fiber. Actual end-to-end latency is higher due to land tails, terminal equipment, and routing. Live measurements recorded by GeoCables show a minimum RTT of 7.0 milliseconds and an average of 7.4 milliseconds from Cordova Bay to Seattle, and a minimum RTT of 11.6 milliseconds and an average of 12.0 milliseconds in the reverse direction. These values reflect the full internet path, not the cable alone, and may include additional delays from network congestion or routing inefficiencies.
Redundancy: what happens if it breaks
If AmeriCan-1 were to experience a fault, redundancy in the corridor would depend on alternative cables and terrestrial networks. Seattle is also connected by the
Whidbey Island-Seattle cable, which could provide some backup capacity. Repairing submarine cables in the Salish Sea typically involves deploying specialized ships and remotely operated vehicles to locate and fix the fault, a process that can be complicated by the region's busy shipping lanes and tidal currents.
Bottom line
- AmeriCan-1 is a 140 km submarine cable connecting Canada and the United States in the Pacific Northwest.
- Its landing points include Cordova Bay, Esquimalt, Oak Harbor, Point Roberts, and Seattle.
- Owned by Bell Canada, Ledcor Industries Inc., Rogers Communications, and Zayo, it has been in service since 1999 according to GeoCables records.
- Design capacity, fiber pairs, supplier, and technology are not disclosed in public sources.
- Theoretical latency over the wet segment is 1.4 ms RTT, but live measurements show higher end-to-end values.
- Redundancy options include the Whidbey Island-Seattle cable and terrestrial networks.