NEWS
EXA Infrastructure links Barcelona and Bilbao with new transatlantic network route
EXA Infrastructure has expanded its European long-haul network with a new terrestrial route linking Barcelona and Bilbao, positioning the Catalan capital as a direct gateway between Mediterranean subsea systems and transatlantic connectivity.
The corridor is designed to shorten routes across Spain and reduce latency by 52 %, according to EXA. It gives subsea cables landing in Barcelona more direct access to Atlantic systems while providing additional routing options for hyperscalers, content providers and AI platform operators.
The route also serves Zaragoza, an increasingly important European hyperscale and AI data centre location. The Aragón region has attracted investment from AWS, Microsoft and QTS, with projected data centre capacity expected to exceed 1.6GW by 2030.
EXA already connects eight major data centres across Catalonia, combining owned fibre infrastructure with an established presence inside data centre facilities. The Bilbao connection extends this footprint towards Atlantic cable routes, creating an end-to-end path for traffic moving between North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The company said the additional corridor would enable customers to use multiple routes across Spain, helping reduce single points of failure and strengthen network resilience as demand for international capacity accelerates rapidly.
“ Barcelona has always been a natural meeting point between East and West,” said Steve Roberts, SVP, Strategic Investments and Product Management at EXA Infrastructure.
“ By extending our terrestrial long-haul footprint directly to the Atlantic corridor, we are giving our customers, and the subsea players that already land there, a genuinely shorter and more resilient path to transatlantic systems.”
NHS AI commission calls for continuous monitoring of healthcare technology
AI-enabled medical devices should be continuously monitored throughout their working lives rather than relying on a single approval before deployment, according to a UK independent commission established by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency( MHRA).
The National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare has published recommendations designed to accelerate adoption while maintaining patient safety and public trust.
Its conclusions follow a year-long consultation involving more than 12,000 patients, members of the public, clinicians, healthcare leaders, technology developers and other participants.
One recommendation would introduce staged authorisations for new AI models, allowing technologies to operate initially under greater supervision and restrictions while generating evidence about their safety and performance in real-world healthcare environments.
The Commission also wants patients to have easier access to safety information about individual AI-enabled medical devices, including reported adverse incidents.
Patients should also be informed when AI is being used in their care, while meaningful human oversight should remain in place.
“ We innovate because we believe tomorrow’ s healthcare can be better than today’ s. But any new innovation – including AI – needs to earn its place and earn our trust. These technologies need to show that they are safe, effective and bring benefits to patients, staff and the wider NHS, without leaving people behind.” said Professor Alastair Denniston, NHS Consultant and Chair of the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare.
The government and MHRA will now consider the recommendations before issuing a formal response. •
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