Undersea Cable

New Trans-Pacific undersea cable turned on

Doug Mohney — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:09:28 -0400

The first phase of the Trans-Pacific Express (TPE) submarine cable system has been activated. The new 18,000 kilometer (over 11,000 mile) fiber optic undersea cable directly connects Mainland China, the U.S., South Korea and Taiwan.

Currently, the system runs at 5.12 terabits. When phase two is completed, TPE will be a 6 terabit system.

Initial carriers investing in TPE were China NetCom, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, Korea Telecom and Verizon Business; AT&T and NTT Communications signed on earlier this year. The addition of NTT also added a cable landing site to Japan, making for a total of six sites - one in Japan, two in mainland China, and one each in Taiwan, South Korea, and the U.S.

For more:
- Review the Verizon Business press release announcing TPE undersea cable turn-up

Satellite: Google interested, Iridium busy

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:14:34 -0400

Google revealed its latest telecom passion this week--satellite telecom services. The Internet giant, along with several other companies, invested in O3b Networks, a new company that is looking to use a 16-satellite network to provide Internet service on a wholesale basis to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Latin America by 2010. The move comes as another satellite communications company, Iridium (remember Iridium?), saw increased phone shipments and network traffic in the wake of recent Gulf Coast storms. With more hurricanes on the way, Iridium may be even busier in the days to come.

For more:
- see this story about Google and O3b at The Wall Street Journal
- read this report about Iridium at Telecommunications

For telcos, cable-laying déjà vu all over again?

Jim O'Neill — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:59:47 -0400

It seems like it was only a couple of years ago (is it seven already?) that telcos were slinging webs of undersea cable across the globe like Spiderman on speed. The result? An excess of capacity that flooded the market and still hasn't been used up.

A new study from TeleGeography says a nascent boom in undersea cabling is blooming anew, with as many as 25 projects worth some $6.4 billion planned between now and 2010. Folly you say? Not according to the industry, which believes several factors are at work, including apps like P2P, YouTube, and other video demands that "consume staggering amounts of bandwidth," the need for redundancy, and improving service to underserved areas like the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean. Check out the Financial Times story

Related articles:
Telcos pursue $700 million Europe-India cable Telco cable report
$300 million Unity cable to link U.S. to Japan Unity cable report
Med Sea cable cut disrupts service Cable cut report

Japan-Russia undersea cable usage begins

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:19:27 -0400

Japan's NTT Communications and Russian backbone network operator TransTeleComCorporation announced that they have begun commercial operations today on the Hokkaido-Sakhalin Cable System (HSCS), and undersea cable extended between Nevelsk, Sakhalin in Russia and Ishikari, Hokkaido, Japan. The cable, which has a capacity of 640 Gbps, has been under construction since early last year, and was finished last December. The route helps NTT Com establish its shortest possible route between Japan and Europe.

For more:
- see this press release at Light Reading

Related articles:
Google joined the Unity cable project linking the U.S. and Japan Google report
Telcos from the U.S. also joined the Europe-India Gateway project Telco report