Original article Total Telecom:
Contributed Article
by Aldert de Jongste, strategic advisor at ECP
The Netherlands is seeing renewed subsea cable activity. Since January, IOEMA B.V. has established itself in the Netherlands, bringing a new submarine cable company into the Dutch digital infrastructure ecosystem. Its planned 1,600-kilometre fibre-optic system is designed to connect five Northern European markets and is expected to come ashore at both Eemshaven and near Scheveningen/The Hague, with Greenhouse Datacenters selected as an additional Dutch landing partner alongside Eurofiber. This reflects renewed interest in the Netherlands as a location for next-generation digital infrastructure.
For the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition*, developments like these underline exactly why international collaboration and practical support for new cable landings matter. Regular visitors to Submarine Networks EMEA may have come across the coalition, either at our stand or in conversations throughout the event. The coalition brings together companies, public organisations and knowledge institutions in the Netherlands with a shared goal: strengthening the country’s position as a digital hub by supporting and attracting new subsea cable landings. In this article, we highlight several recent developments in the Netherlands that are relevant to the international subsea cable community. More information about the coalition and how we work can be found at the end of the article.
Maintaining a leading digital hub
For many years, the Netherlands has been recognized as one of the world’s leading digital infrastructure hubs. Its early investment in connectivity, internet exchanges and data centres helped create a dense, hyperconnected, and internationally competitive digital ecosystem.
But this success also brought new challenges. Due to the Netherlands’ early development as a digital infrastructure hub and its high density of data centers, the country was among the first to face constraints related to power availability and physical space for new digital infrastructure. Members of our coalition still recall a TeleGeography presentation in 2019 in which the Netherlands was described as “closed for business” for new digital infrastructure. It was a sharp characterization of the growing pressure around power availability, space and permitting at the time.
Today, these issues are no longer unique to the Netherlands: power availability, grid congestion and spatial constraints have become defining challenges for digital infrastructure markets around the world. In the Netherlands, they have also contributed to renewed political focus on digital infrastructure. Following the innovation and investment agenda developed under the
leadership of former ASML CEO Peter Wennink, digital infrastructure has now been explicitly recognized as a political priority.
The Netherlands also continues to show strong fundamentals. In TeleGeography’s connectivity ranking, the country scores strongly on the metric of “power”, outperforming several other leading digital hubs. The large-scale development of offshore wind in the North Sea further underlines the country’s long-term ambition. While these investments will not solve today’s power constraints overnight, they do strengthen the longer-term outlook for a cleaner and more resilient energy base for digital infrastructure.
Together, these elements – a strong existing ecosystem, renewed political attention and long-term investment in energy infrastructure – are becoming visible in concrete developments across the Dutch digital infrastructure landscape.
Growing demand and new cable initiatives
One example is the continued demand for large-scale digital infrastructure, reflected in recently granted permits for seven hyperscale data centers and the awarding of funding for an AI Factory in the northern part of the Netherlands. This AI Factory, centered around an AI supercomputer and connected to the EuroHPC ecosystem, will provide access for both the private sector and academia to experiment with, train and develop AI applications. Its open-access approach is expected to further strengthen the Dutch digital ecosystem.
IOEMA and new routes through the North Sea
As mentioned earlier, IOEMA is one example of renewed subsea cable activity in the Netherlands. The planned system would add a new North Sea route connecting the Netherlands with Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Norway, strengthening route diversity in Northern Europe. Its planned Dutch landings at Eemshaven and near Scheveningen/The Hague are both close to major internet exchange ecosystems, with NL-IX and AMS-IX both listed among the world’s ten largest internet exchanges.
IOEMA Holding also includes PACS Southern Route, an entity involved in the Pan-Arctic Cable System, which aims to connect Europe and Asia via a northern route rather than through the Middle East. Both initiatives align with areas identified by the European Commission in its Submarine Cable Security Toolkit and Cable Projects of European Interest framework. This fits within a broader European context in which subsea cable security, route diversity and resilience have moved higher on the policy agenda.
Making Dutch cable landing easier to navigate
In parallel, the coalition is working to make cable landings on the Dutch coast easier to navigate by identifying preferred landing locations. For these locations, we are gathering survey data, information on available power infrastructure and backhaul partners, and possible seabed routes. This is done in consultation with relevant government organizations, taking into account the many competing uses of the busy North Sea.
Taken together, these developments underline the Netherlands’ continued relevance to Europe’s digital infrastructure. With a strong ecosystem, renewed political attention, growing demand for AI and cloud infrastructure, preferred landing locations and initiatives such as IOEMA, the country is well positioned to support the next generation of subsea cable systems. At Submarine Networks EMEA, the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition looks forward to discussing these opportunities with partners across the international subsea community.
Meet the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition at Submarine Networks EMEA 2026
Representatives of the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition, including ambassador Martin Prins and coalition strategist Aldert de Jongste, will be present at Submarine Networks EMEA in London this May. Together with other coalition members, they look forward to connecting with the international subsea cable community and discussing the opportunities the Netherlands can offer for future cable landings.
Visit us at stand 13 to learn more about recent Dutch developments, preferred landing locations and the practical support available for parties exploring new routes to the Netherlands.
Aldert de Jongste is a political scientist, goldsmith, and strategic advisor at ECP, a Netherlands-based foundation that brings together public and private stakeholders around the responsible development of the digital society. At ECP, he works on issues at the intersection of digitalisation, infrastructure, the economy and societal values. Through the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition, Aldert is committed to strengthening the Netherlands’ position as a digital hub and to positioning subsea cables as critical infrastructure for the economy, innovation, security and digital autonomy.
The Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition: One central point of contact
The Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition is a public-private partnership that brings together companies, infrastructure providers, data centre operators, wholesale end users, knowledge institutions and different levels of government. Its shared goal is to strengthen the Netherlands’ position as a digital hub by supporting and attracting new subsea cable landings.
The coalition acts as a central point of contact for international cable developers and investors exploring opportunities in the Netherlands. It supports new cable initiatives by sharing knowledge about the Dutch digital ecosystem, connecting landing parties with relevant stakeholders and helping them navigate the regulatory and licensing landscape.
By combining public and private expertise, the coalition aims to make the Dutch landscape more accessible for parties looking to land a subsea cable on the Dutch coast: from first orientation to a successful landing.
Stay informed: Webinar on 29 October
The Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition will host its annual webinar on 29 October, providing an update on subsea cable landings and related developments in the Netherlands. The session will highlight the opportunities the Netherlands offers for new cable initiatives, as well as the support available through the coalition. The full program will follow soon. You can register here.
*The Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition is a collaboration of: AMS-IX, Digital Realty, Dutch Datacenter Association (DDA), Equinix, Eurofiber, Fiber Carrier Association (FCA), KPN, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, i3D.net,, Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), NL-IX, Relined, Rijkswaterstaat, Stichting DiNL, SURF and WorldStream.
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