An international forum for the expression of ideas and opinions pertaining to the submarine telecoms industry

Voice of the Industry

Issue 8 May 2003

1 Editor’s Exordium 3 Major Submarine Cable Projects in Asia The infrastructure of Asian cable systems Contents Paul Rudde 30 SubOptic Submarine Telecoms Industry Survey 4 Tracking the Cableships 39 Emails to the Editor 5 The Silence after the Battle Jean Devos 41 NewsNow A brief synopsis of current news items 6 Upcoming Conferences 42 Maintenance News 8

Recovery or Rationalisation Advertisers SubOptic - a tonic for the Hangover! Alan Robinson 11 T Soja and Associates 5 Cable & Wireless 6,7,8,38 Negotiating the Market’s Half Pipe Global Marine 9,10 The market “adventure” over the last two years Tom Soja 15 STF MarketPlace 13 SubOptic 14 Thales GeoSolutions 17 Walking a Mile in Our Customers’ Shoes Being a System Supplier with Owner and Fugro 20 Operator Experience Tyco Telecommunications 22 Dr William Marra 21 BJ Marketing Communications 24 Great Eastern Group 25 Key Driver WFN Strategies 28 The Delivery of Broadband Remains the key NSW 29 driver in the Asia Pacific Region CTC Marine 32 Neil Lambert 26 Nexans 34

2 Submarine Telecoms Forum is published quarterly by WFN Exordium Strategies, L.L.C. The publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the permission of the publishers. Liability: while every care is Two months ago in our last issue, we mentioned our partnership with taken in preparation of this publication, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the TSA, that being the debut of News-Now, the online, complimentary information herein, or any errors which may occur in submarine cable intelligence service, and thankfully, it seems to advertising or editorial content, or any consequence arising have been well received, and as designed, has become a weekly from any errors or omissions. resource for the general community. Submarine Telecoms Forum is an independent commercial publication, serving as a freely accessible forum This month, we are pleased to announce the launching of STF for professionals in industries connected with submarine MarketPlace, the new online resource for industry reports, optical fibre technologies and techniques. The publisher newsletters and other cool stuff! By pre-negotiating favorable terms cannot be held responsible for any views expressed by beforehand, we can offer various industry data sources with a contributors, and the editor reserves the right to edit any favorable STF discount. So, watch that space as it grows. advertising or editorial material submitted for publication. © WFN Strategies L.L.C., 2003 Issue 8 brings some interesting insight into our dynamic submarine Contributions are welcomed. Please forward to the cable world. Alan Robinson welcomes all to the upcoming 2004 Managing Editor: Wayne F. Nielsen, WFN Strategies, 19471 Youngs Cliff Road, Suite 100, Potomac Falls, SubOptic Conference, and Tom Soja reveals some interesting signs of Virginia 20165, USA. market life. Neil Lambert discusses broadband demand, while Paul Tel: +1 (703) 444-2527, Fax:+1 (703) 444-3047. Budde examines infrastructure, in the Asia-Pacific region. And of Email: [email protected] course, Jean Devos returns with his ever-insightful observations. Advertising - Europe/ME/Africa - Hildegard Peltier Tel: +[33] 1 4785 2207 Lastly, we have included a one-page industry survey co-sponsored by Email: [email protected] SubOptic 2004, which we hope you will take the time to complete and Advertising - Houston USA, Robin Gentry forward, the results of which will be shared in an upcoming issue. Tel: +1 (281) 895 6880 Email: [email protected] Happy reading. Pacific - Carole Marsh McCormick Tel: +[61] 2 48 611993 Email: [email protected] Designed and produced by Ted Breeze BJ Marketing Communications, Colchester, UK..

3 Submarine Telecoms Industry Survey

SubOptic 2004 and Submarine Telecoms Forum 4. What would you find the most stimulating and 11. How would you rate the content of Submarine magazine are co-sponsoring the first annual Submarine relevant topic for a SubOptic Roundtable? Telecoms Forum magazine Telecoms Industry Survey, the results of which will be ______o Excellent o Unsatisfactory o Good o Poor shared online and published in an upcoming issue. ______o Satisfactory One lucky responder will receive a free copy of the 2002 5. Are you planning to attend SubOptic 2004? edition of Undersea Fiber Communication Systems, 12. How would you rate the content of News-Now which was edited by Jose Chesnoy, Head of System o Yes o No and the STF website? Design & Technology, Alcatel Optics Group, France. o Excellent o Unsatisfactory 6. Are business conditions improving or getting o o Please take a moment to respond by printing this page worse? Good Poor o Satisfactory and mailing or faxing to: o Improving o Worse WFN Strategies 13. Would you like to see any changes in STF or 7. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future? 19471 Youngs Cliff Road, Suite 100 NewsNow, or other website information services? o Optimistic o Other Potomac Falls, Virginia 20165 USA ______o Pessimistic Fax [1] 704 444 3047 ______

1. Which best describes you? 8. Does your current business performance indicate that we are still in a recession, or has your 14. In your opinion, what does the industry most need? o Academic business not been affected? ______o Engineer/Project Management ______o Management o Marketing ______o Other 9. How have client requirements changed over the Name______last three years? 2. What best describes your business? Company______o Cable owner ______Address______o System Integrator ______o City______Cable Installer/Maintainer ______o Marine Surveyor o State/Province ______Other 10. How has the type of project you handle changed over the last three years? Country______3. Which Keynote Speaker would attract you to attend SubOptic 2004? ______Telephone______Email______

4 T Soja & Associates, Inc. has published a Emails to the Editor new report entitled Opportunities:Opportunities:

Dear Industry Colleague, Another good edition. PipelinePipeline andand PowerPower Further to my last email John Graham on this subject, I can con- ITG Cable Projects firm that Pro-Bank now has 18 Cable Projects registered candidates based in ...... 4 different countries. The report provides a timely look at pipeline and submarine power cable projects that may I am pleased to advise I enjoy reading Submarine provide opportunities for marine services that the service has been pro- Telecoms Forum. companies and telecom infrastructure moted within “Submarine developers. Telecoms Forum” - a free news Donald Dean information service aimed at President The report, available as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file, identifies 68 terrestrial and submarine the entire submarine telecom- DMM International Inc. pipeline or electric power cable projects that munications industry - visit: may provide opportunities for marine service www.subtelforum.com/ ...... companies and telecom developers looking to 16_march_2003.htm. use their expertise in major construction NB: Submarine Telecoms Fo- Re: NEWS-Now projects outside the traditional telecom rum is an excellent publica- industry. tion - if you do not already Good show, mate. receive it, visit the home page at www.subtelforum.com and C.F. Chamberlain Opportunities: Pipeline and sign up! Power Cable Projects is available now. Graham Marle A quarterly update service is QUALTRACK LTD also available. www.subtelforum.com/catalog

5 A brief synopsis of current news items from NewsNow, the weekly news feed available on the Submarine Telecoms Forum website.

Brazilian Research Network Awards CNBC to Use London-Pacific Fiber Link Global Crossing Adds New Managed Contract to Global Crossing for Video Feeds Services to Portfolio Global Crossing has announced an agreement to Singapore’s StarHub has sealed a substantial con- Global Crossing has announced a new managed provide Latin America’s largest research and aca- tract with CNBC Asia Pacific, the world’s leading services offer to deliver an unmatched service com- demic network, the Brazilian National Education and business television news provider, to provide ‘live’ mitment to customers worldwide. Global Crossing Research Network (RNP), with high-speed Inter- video feeds from London, Hong Kong and Japan to Managed Services can be provided over the world’s national Private Line and Dedicated Internet Ac- Singapore via fiber cable. first integrated global IP-based network, which cess services. reaches 27 countries and over 200 major cities. www.subtelforum.com/13_april_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/23_march_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/23_march_2003.htm

Cable Ship Ready to Install Australian Corning estimates fiber market down Global Crossing Files MOR for January Cable 50% in 2002 Global Crossing has filed a Monthly Operating Re- A state of the art international cable vessel install- Corning Optical Fiber estimates that the total world- port (MOR) with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the ing Telstra’s additional communications capacity to wide fiber market was about 55 million fiber- Southern District of New York, as required by its Tasmania, has arrived in Burnie, Australia. kilometers in 2002, down about 50% on 2001. Chapter 11 reorganization process. www.subtelforum.com/4_may_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/30_march_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/6_april_2003.htm

From business case to operation, from satellite networks to submarine, from Alaska to Bahrain to New Zealand

6 Level 3 Wins Private Line Internet Contract Level 3 Communications, Inc. has signed an agree- ment to provide network services to mpX technol- ogy AG in Munich and Frankfurt. - continued www.subtelforum.com/23_march_2003.htm Mintera Sets New Transmission Record Global Crossing Signs With University IP Solution Strategy for NTT Mintera announced that it demonstrated error-free Global Crossing has signed an agreement with NTT Communications Corporation has announced transmission of 40 data channels each operating Florida International University (FIU) to provide In- a comprehensive strategy for transforming the com- at 40 Gbps over a record distance of 10,000 km of ternational Private Line (IPL) and Dedicated Internet pany from a “Global IP Company” to a “Global IP transmission fiber without electrical regeneration. Access (DIA) services. Solution Company.” www.subtelforum.com/30_march_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/30_march_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/23_march_2003.htm More Customers for NAP of the Americas International Telecom Wins Canadian KPN Adds Services Across Germany Terremark Worldwide, Inc. has announced that the Project With the official launch of KPN EuroRings into the company signed eighteen contracts with new cus- International Telecom Inc. has been selected to in- German market KPN is now offering a broad range tomers and had three existing customers expand stall two marine cables connecting Cape Breton to of international data and IP services across Ger- their relationship with the NAP of the Americas by mainland Nova Scotia, Canada. many. ordering additional space or services. www.subtelforum.com/20_april_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/20_april_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/20_april_2003.htm

Not everyone has our depth of experience or breadth of capability - but now everyone can profit from it Realise your business vision with Cable & Wireless www.cw.com/goes

7 - continued

MPLS-based IP-VPN Services for OTE Picks Interoute for “Olympic” Traffic Tyco Wins Svalbard Contract Thailand Interoute has signed an agreement with the Hellenic Tyco Telecommunications (US) Inc. has been se- Telecommunications Organization S.A. (OTE), the largest lected by a subsidiary of the Norwegian Space NTT America, Inc., has announced MPLS-based Greek telecommunications operator, to provide high IP-VPN services availability in Thailand for multi- speed data networks services throughout Europe, in Centre (NSC) to supply the Svalbard Undersea national corporations doing business in the region. preparation for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Cable System linking the island of Svalbard with Greece. mainland Norway. www.subtelforum.com/20_april_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/23_march_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/27_april_2003.htm New Bank Facility for Southern Cross PTC Tokyo Bay Mid-Year Seminar 2003 WFN Strategies Expands Capability Southern Cross Cable Network has successfully The Pacific Telecommunications Council invites concluded negotiations with its senior banking syn- companies to join them in Japan this May for a two- with Runfola Addition dicate for a restructured bank facility. WFN Strategies, LLC recently announced that long-time day power packed program. industry expert, J.A. (Jack) Runfola has joined the www.subtelforum.com/4_may_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/13_april_2003.htm company as Senior Consultant. www.subtelforum.com/27_april_2003.htm

Not everyone has our depth of experience or breadth of capability - but now everyone can profit from it Realise your business vision with Cable & Wireless www.cw.com/goes

8 MAINTENANCEMAINTENANCE NEWSNEWS

Europe-Asia Cable Upgraded Global Marine Launches Cable More Capacity for C&W IDC Backbone FLAG Telecom Group Limited has announced a Awareness Site Cable & Wireless IDC has greatly expanded its IP capacity expansion to key segments of its FEA ca- Global Marine’s Cable Awareness section on its backbone to improve connectivity to its global IP ble system, which links the telecoms markets of website (www.globalmarinesystems.com) has network in Japan and Asia. Western Europe and Japan through the Middle been launched. www.subtelforum.com/27_april_2003.htm East, India, Southeast Asia and China. www.subtelforum.com/30_march_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/6_april_2003.htm New Management for Seaworks Fujitsu Announces FLAG Contract Global Marine Wins Contract Seaworks, a New Zealand-based provider of instal- Southern Cross Cables Limited has renewed and lation and maintenance services for the submarine Fujitsu Limited announced recently that it has been extended its maintenance agreement with Global cable industry, has announced that its management awarded a contract by FLAG Telecom Ltd to up- Marine for the portion of the Southern Cross Cable restructuring has been restructured. grade the capacity of key segments of the FLAG Network installed in the North Pacific Ocean. Europe Asia (FEA) submarine cable network. www.subtelforum.com/27_april_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/6_april_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/30_march_2003.htm New ROV for Global Marine GD Sells IT International Telecom KPN Upgrades for 10-Gbps Services Global Marine Systems Limited has introduced At- las 2, a 300 Kw highly specified, remotely operated Canadian investors have entered into an agreement KPN will use optical equipment from Nortel Net- vehicle (ROV), capable of carrying out inspection, to acquire IT International Telecom Inc. and IT In- works to provide dense wavelength division burial and survey of submarine cable systems down ternational Telecom Ltd. (UK), business units of multiplexing (DWDM), 10 Gbps service on its inter- to 2000 meters water depth. General Dynamics Network Systems. national fiber-optic network. www.subtelforum.com/13_april_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/6_april_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/4_may_2003.htm

9 MAINTENANCEMAINTENANCE NEWSNEWS -continued New Owners for State-of-the-Art Pacific Crossing Bought by Pivotal SMD Tractor For Offshore Windfarms Transatlantic Cable Private Equity SMD recently announced that Mayflower Energy in Columbia Ventures Corporation (CVC) has Pivotal Private Equity announced today that it has Teesside, UK has awarded them a contract for a subsea cable installation vehicle. announced that its subsidiaries have completed the signed an Asset Purchase Agreement to acquire purchase of a state-of-the-art 12,200-kilometer fiber the assets of Pacific Crossing Ltd. and its www.subtelforum.com/30_march_2003.htm optic submarine cable system connecting North subsidiaries (PCL) for 63 million dollars. PCL, America with Europe. formerly a subsidiary of Global Crossing, operates STT Takes Over in Global Crossing Deal the PC-1 fiber optic telecommunications network www.subtelforum.com/6_april_2003.htm ST Telemedia has assumed the rights and obliga- connecting Japan with the United States of tions of Hutchison Telecommunications Limited America.. New Underwater Vehicle Serving the (Hutchison) to invest in Global Crossing under the www.subtelforum.com/27_april_2003.htm Gulf of Mexico purchase agreement signed August 9, 2002. www.subtelforum.com/4_may_2003.htm Boeing announced that the Echo Ranger, an Regional Submarine Networks – the unmanned autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, that performs deepwater surveying in depths up to alternative from Global Marine and BT Telecom Italia Increases Presence 3,000 meters (10,000 feet), for gas, oil and telecom- Global Marine launches its Regional Submarine Telecom Italia has further boosted its presence in munications companies, has entered service in the Networks, the first truly vendor-independent solu- South America by expanding, through Telecom Italia Gulf of Mexico. tion for regional cable systems. Sparkle (100% owned by TI) and Seabone, its www.subtelforum.com/13_april_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/4_may_2003.htm international backbone to provide IP and data transmission services in the area.

www.subtelforum.com/4_may_2003.htm

10 Eighteen months ago I was appearing as an By Alan Robinson “industry expert” as part of a Round Table panel discussion. The panel was asked an ex- acting question by a determined member of the audience. “When would we see the green shoots of recovery in our once, much admired industry?” Needless to say all the so-called experts threw bets on the table with forecasts that left as much room for vagueness and re- traction as possible. I was the last to answer and I said, “March 29th 2004”. The questioner jumped to his feet immediately to ask for my reasoning for such a precise reply. “Because it is the start of SubOptic 2004……… “. I’m not sure why I answered as I did, but perhaps looking into the foggy crystal ball, I had an intuitive feeling that by this date we as an industry would have taken as much pain as we could bear. We would be driven to get to- gether to understand how we had rational- ised, how we might regroup and where the real value was in building, owning and oper- SubOptic in Monaco - a tonic for the hangover! ating submarine networks. Firstly, it is probably worth recalling some of the objectives of the conference from the SubOptic Constitution: Recovery or • It is a mutual, non-profit making organisation • Its objective is to promote the interests of the submarine telecommunications cable com- munity by exchanging ideas and information, Rationalisation? educating within the community and foster- ing debate

11 • The SubOptic Executive Committee will theatres are in fact built below sea level, on the maintain impartial academic excellence and waters edge, so this should add an extra theatri- Alan Robinson is the interests of the organisations within the cal dimension). Most hotels are within walking Vice President of community distance; attendee feedback from Kyoto strongly Global Operations So on March 29th 2004 we shall meet with indicated a preference for this. The costs of ho- Engineering Serv- the intent to look back over a torrid 3 years since tels and restaurants are equivalent to a European ices (GOES) for the heady days of Kyoto, recount the lessons we capital such as Paris or London, with Alcatel Cable & Wireless, have learned, and put every effort into confirm- having negotiated significant discounts. But responsible for ing and reforecasting the future in both com- more importantly, Monaco is home to the Musée strategic invest- mercial and technical terms. Oceanographique de Monaco founded in 1910 ments on behalf of C&W. In the last few months I have been fre- by Prince Albert 1er. He sank all of his casino He is a Master Mariner and joined BT quently asked a number of similar questions spe- profits into a passion for deep-sea exploration, in 1976. He has since held positions in Sales cifically around the timing and location of the and the research laboratories were once headed and Project Management, before being ap- next SubOptic…….. by Jacques Cousteau. There is therefore a real pointed BT Marine’s General Manager for “Will the conference go ahead in 2004?” tie between Monaco and the sea, and the Mo- the Asia Pacific region, based in Singapore. “Why have we chosen Monaco, in times naco government has been most welcoming and On his return, he took up a position of Di- of economic hardship?” supportive of SubOptic 2004. rector of International Sales with the newly The answer is a definite yes to the first ques- So what are the arrangements, format and combined BT and C&W cableship fleet in tion. There is a small proviso to that question – timetable for the event? For details please see C&W Marine. Alan was appointed the financial success, i.e. break even, of the con- the website www.suboptic.biz which will be sup- Managing Director of Network Services in ference entirely depends upon the submarine ported by a number of mail shots that com- 1997 and Director of Capacity Management cable community registering attendees, taking menced in mid-April. If for some reason you in January. sponsorships and booking exhibition space. So did not receive this initial mail shot, please con- early booking will be appreciated to keep the tact Didier Provost at [email protected] or hosts, Alcatel, cash flow positive, or at worst, [email protected] and get on the mail- information concerning a range of sponsorship neutral and to keep the Executive Committee ing list. Unfortunately, with the turmoil in the opportunities and, exhibition and hospitality confident that they will not have to subsidise industry since Kyoto, some companies have dis- space. the event. appeared, changed ownership or address, so Both these latter opportunities are draw- The latter question “why Monaco……?” Alcatel’s database needs some amending. Please ing considerable early interest so don’t delay your can be answered very simply. Monaco has a su- make sure that you make their task as easy as bookings as we have scaled back on available perb conference and exhibition facility at the possible. The website has details of registration, space in line with the industry downturn to en- Grimaldi Forum. (By way of interest, the lecture with excellent discounts for early bookings, and sure we run at maximum capacity.

12 The mail shot also has a call for papers, structured before any form of investment stabil- which will stay open until the end of August ity will return. With prices still declining on the 2003. The Programme Committee is doing an majorwfn long haulstrategies routes, sense has to prevail, or excellent job in preparing a broader range of we will see another round of Chapter 11 and subject areas and for 2004 there will be signifi- bankruptcies. cantly more emphasis placed on the state of the So this coming year is critical to the health market and market forecasts, trends and oppor- of the industry. There are currently regional Online e-commerce tunities. niche opportunities, and a clamour to shut down We are prioritising the need to attract old uneconomic systems. Some companies have speakers and contributions from the financial or will emerge from Chapter 11; others have gone MARKET and venture capitalist community, and also under with assets sold off at staggering low prices. broaden our dealings with regulatory and per- When Stephen McClelland asks in Telecom In- mitting issues. So my hope is that, even with a ternational “is the submarine industry now in PLACE continued downturn in investment, the value need of a lifeline?” he poses a number of signifi- of the conference will be to establish a more pre- cant questions that were articulated at that PTC The resource for industry dictable future, incorporating new and innova- Roundtable. tive solutions for an industry which went from I’m sure by next year we shall be able to reports, newsletters and regulated conservatism to wild opportunism in answer most of those questions, but in the mean- cool stuff! one disastrous leap. time, SubOptic will be working hard to preserve In the SubOptic calendar, as part of a steady one of the founding principles of the conference, www.subtelforum.com/catalog/ marketing and awareness programme, we had a namely the well being of the (submarine cable) SubOptic sponsored Roundtable at PTC in Janu- community. ary in Hawaii. The panellists included Brooke Please help to get the conference off to a Coburn, Managing Director of the Carlyle Group very positive start by making a commitment to and Scott Davies, CEO of Macquarie Communi- exhibition and hospitality space and sponsor- cations Infrastructure Group. Between them, ship opportunities. Early registration has signifi- they established that there was still an appetite cant discounts. I am sure we will be rewarded in the financial community for properly pack- with vigorous debate, eloquent presentations aged and managed, communications assets, with and powerful recommendations – of course sup- good long-term returns. But before this could ported by evenings that will enhance the days happen the overhang of capacity from the boom events – just the tonic for a hangover years has to be rationalised and the players re- recovery!

13 14 We’ve seen the bottom and it looks deep and bumps and grinds of a terrain park. But if one flat, not pointed, U-shaped, not V-shaped, and were interested (or stubborn enough!) to try and hopefully not L-shaped. survive rather than cruise safely around to an As bad as the telecom market has been over alternative field of nicely groomed opportuni- the past two years, the recent winter ski season, ties – basic human instinct is fight or flight, re- at least here in New England has been great. member – one might consider what would con- When this article was initially proposed, New stitute reasonable preparation for such an un- Englanders were experiencing their sixth (!) dertaking (no pun intended.) straight month in which there has been accu- You’d need to develop a few new skills or mulating snowfall – a skier’s dream to be sure. techniques just to be able to drop-in over the While peering up at the half-pipe section edge much less be able to come up the other side of a terrain park at a popular ski resort late last or perform tricks and eventually glide down and Winter, the parallels between that type of ski through without wiping out and losing every- adventure and the market “adventure” that the thing as did the hapless ski patrol “hot dog.” industry has endured during the past two years Increased flexibility might be a good idea since brought into sharp focus consideration for what new opportunities, whether for fun or profit, it would take to negotiate such treacherous ter- generally require some type of “stretch” either rain, especially as a ski patrol “expert” went head- in resources or existing skill sets. over-heals (losing skis and poles in the process) Strengthening would not be a bad idea as on just such challenging terrain. well which means not waiting until you’re on The market has witnessed similar self-de- the precipice, but rather constantly preparing for struction by both novices and experts, but just new opportunities through training even if NEGOTIATING as that unfortunate ski patrol person got back you’re not sure exactly what those opportuni- on his feet to ski again, so too is there a modest ties might look like. Remember, chance favors resurgence or at least a resurrection amongst the prepared mind as well as the prepared body some of the firms in the telecom industry. – and the prepared organization. THE MARKET’S If all one had ever known either in skiing So having pushed this analogy to a reason- or the telecom market is a nice smooth ride gen- able limit, what lessons can we draw? tly upward to the peak of customer interest fol- l When a firm’s main markets go down, al- HALF PIPE lowed by a nice smooth cruise down the gentle ternative opportunities may lie in related slopes of profitability, there is no way that one fields in which core competencies might By TOM SOJA would be prepared for what lies within the be applied. Part I 15 l Core strengthening – all the rage among “Stretch” markets: Some examples the various top sports gurus from running to biking to outdoorsmanship to team l Energy pipeline and terminal projects – ex. Saudi Aramco sports – speaks to an organizations’ ability l Power cable projects l Offshore wind farm projects to realize and constantly strengthen the l Offshore oil & gas production platform opportunities – Fiber Web (Gulf of Mexico) foundation from which all other skills l River, lake, and bay crossings – ex. Sonoque project in Quebec Province emanate and perhaps expand the core for l Niche regional and micro-markets potential applicability to new situations. l Subsea research networks – ex. Project Neptune offshore tectonic plate monitoring and l This speaks also to the flexibility and train- underwater laboratory environment ing issue in that the more that specific skill Note: There are 103 Pipeline, power cable and wind power projects listed in TSA’s Power Cable & sets are honed, the greater the potential to Pipeline Opportunities Report which is published annually in January and updated quarterly. become blindered by increasingly special- ized tasks and decreasingly open to new the analysis and consulting sector, clients and darkness. Numerous capacity and service deals areas of potential opportunity. others are starting to renew their efforts toward have been completed in the first four months of beginning to plan for future growth. There is this year. Prosperity just around the corner? convincing evidence that some vendors are ac- Pull-through at the end-user level is being So is the market climate beginning to change tually doing this while others still have their borne out as evidenced through surveys such as now that the sun has returned and the days grow heads in the sand, hoping that it doesn’t get that just published by America’s Network in longer? Indeed, has the half-pipe melted away much worse. which states, among other things, that demand and given way to verdant green opportunities These future winners have recognized that for telecom services remains strong and that or is there a continued threat from maniacal free- reality dictates that you can’t cost-cut your way significant proportions of business end-users are rider downhill gravity-sport artists (think moun- to growth or rely on the world to beat a path to planning to increase their spending on key tain bikers, all-terrain skateboarders, New Zea- your door in the hopes of writing up orders for telecom services over the next twelve months. land-style gravity ball gonzos) that threaten to your product or services. Proactive opportunity Similarly, a recent Information Week accelerate the self destruction cycle even further? creation requires new ways of approaching mar- Research study showed that the number of Well, yes and no. kets and customers, and sometimes partnering processes and other metrics being monitored by While it is much too soon to call a full- with outside organizations in order to best lev- businesses in real time will triple (i.e. increase by blown return to the go-go days of the recent erage each other’s core competencies. 3X) over the coming year from about eighty (80) telecom bubble – indeed those may never return, such metrics today as companies of all types strive but even that’s hard to predict with any more Several bright spots on the horizon. to move at the speed of their customers. than 50%/50% accuracy – signs of renewed ac- Carriers are still interested in buying capacity and Inexpensive processing, storage, tivity are certainly beginning to appear. Within have indicated so even during the past years’ teleconnectivity, and software solutions will

16 make it easier and more cost effective to implement IT and IP-based business solutions. Globalization of labor markets for high value-added services, not just for manufactured goods – outsourcing of software projects to In- dia and also to China will require fat pipes. As reported last December (2002) by Forbes: Tech giant Hewlett-Packard has seen the fu- ture of technology consulting. It’s on the other side of the globe and it’s really, really cheap. “We’re trying to move everything we can offshore…aggressively realigning our resources.” — HP Services chief Ann Livermore Short term, that means adding to the software and services personnel HP already has in India. Fur- ther out, HP expects China to also turn into a major consulting center. Napster: although severely hobbled by legal actions against it, descendents and imita- tors are now beginning to attract the interest of mainstream music publishing labels. On the video entertainment front, Netflix – which offers DVD movie rental via the Internet – serves as the closest potential precursor yet to buying and delivering video content online. Turmoil in the air travel business may spur the implementation of more frequent use of high-quality videoconferencing – at least where “pressing the flesh” is not absolutely crucial. Of course, this is an applications that’s been waiting to happen for many, many years now – but now

17 could be spurred on by various health and safety “We never emphasized that our new phones concerns. were 3G, which is a technical thing most custom- Mr. Soja has ten years Ultra-cheap and ubiquitous telecon- ers don’t care about; instead we focused on new experience as a Senior nectivity via wireless phones of all types – and services like personal GPS and the ability to take Analyst in the fiberoptics not necessarily full-bore 3G, but less expensive and send video clips using our phones,” says industry and as a Director and complex versions such as 2.5G, WiFi and Yoshitaka Ishida, head of KDDI’s public relations of Submarine Cable the various flavors of each with perhaps 80% to department. Research. He has 90% of the functionality. NTT DoCoMo has 58 Innovation, as always the case, will drive conducted feasibility and million cellular subscribers compared with KDDI the next boomlet. Innovative applications fol- market demand studies for which has 14 million subscribers. low naturally on technology that, while still projects such as Atlantic Crossing. In the However, NTT DoCoMo has only been able evolving, delivers useful services for which Pacific region, Mr. Soja completed a market to sign-up 190,000 3G subscribers thus far while customers are willing to pay. In a similar way, study for the Hawaii-Americas and Western KDDI now has six million 3G subscribers in Japan international bandwidth will begin to be rap- Hemisphere submarine cable systems. – the second largest 3G subscriber base in the idly devoured as new applications are devel- Mr. Soja holds an MBA from Babson world (only SKTelecom in South Korea has oped that take advantage of the economies and College and a bachelor’s degree in more.) plentitude of the capacity available. mechanical engineering from the University of Rochester. Signs of Life in New Projects in Niche Markets – New Build Markets Beginning to Recover l SMITCOM St. Maarten – Puerto Rico cable l Bass Strait 2 project On a broader scale, the economic down- l Svalbard Undersea Cable System turn is producing literally hundreds, if not l Pakistan-UAE – at least two competing projects for that route l Telecom and Internet initiatives in Afghanistan, Croatia, Bangladesh thousands, of start-ups worldwide. The layoffs l New projects in the Caribbean from established tech companies and from l Homeland security initiatives flame-outs has loosed upon the economy many l Upgrades – FLAG Europe-Asia network, Southern Cross would-be entrepreneurs who have both broadly l Alaska United ring completion applicable talents as well as an abundant talent l Phenix Telecom transpipeline link l Bids for large end-user MNCs in some markets, especially in third-world markets, continue to be pool from which to build their new organiza- throttled by monopolistic behavior and expensive capacity pricing schemes tions – at quite reasonable costs compared with l Refinancings – the fact that they are getting done is a sign that the capital markets believe there is those during the bubble years in which talent hope, at least for some survivors – those that have gone through re-organization as well as those was scarce and expensive. These will provide fortunate enough to have avoided the process and still remain standing. the seeds of innovation-driven growth that will Source: T Soja & Associates, Inc. drive the “next big thing.”

18 Make no mistake about it, faith remains Market Not Dead: More Signs of Life Among Recent Capacity and Service Deals strong in the process of innovation – the virtuous Network Services l Level 3 – Euronext network services (4-30-03) cycle is not dead, merely going through a longer l Equant – EUMETSAT (4-24-03) period of new expansion as the world catches l THUS – Capital Radio broadband network (4-24-03) up and digests the implications of the last round l SingTel – Sumitomo Heavy Industries (4-18-03) of technological innovation and what it has l Cable & Wireless International – NTL IP Traffic (4-28-03) l Level 3 – Mesh Solutions co-location and IP transit services (4-01-03) wrought in terms of opportunities – mainly ben- l Global Crossing – Florida International University international private line (IPL) dedicated Internet efits at lower costs in so many product areas. access (DIA) services (3-26-03) The innovators and their angels and sup- l Global Crossing – Brazilian National Education and Research Network high-speed IPL and DIA port structures (venture capitalists, academic services (3-21-03) connections, legal advisors, etc.) are also con- l Level 3 – mpX Technology IPL and Internet access services (3-17-03) l Sprint – Hitachi Data Systems domestic and global voice and data services (3-12-03) sidering and taking to heart the lessons of the l Equant – Behr GmbH & Co. KG connecting fourteen (14) sites on four (4) continents with IP VPN and frenzy. However, it would also be reasonable to Voice for IP VP (3-12-03) suspect that not all the lessons of the last boom- l Level 3 – University of Oregon Internet access and private line services and-bust cycle will necessarily be internalized. l TeliaSonera International Carrier – Lycos Europe backbone capacity for its Europe-wide corporate network (2-10-03) Most company starters are optimists by na- Wholesale Capacity Agreements ture and necessity, and will be fully self-confi- l Interoute Hellenic Telecommunications (OTE) high speed data networks services throughout Europe dent that what’s happened before would never for the 2004 Olympic Games (3-18-03) happen again – at least to them. And that’s okay l France Telecom’s GlobeCast extends trans-world ATM Fiber Network to Asia with 45-Mbps transpa- cific fiber trunk between Singapore and Los Angeles (2-28-03) because free-market based capitalism is often a l Level 3 – HanseNet IP transit service (2-28-03) very messy process; but it beats the alternatives l Global Crossing – DANTE (Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe) incremental 2.5 hands down. Gbps wavelength services (2-25-03) There is the beginning of a shift away from l Level 3 – George Washington University metropolitan dark fiber services (2-24-03) rescue and resolution of the distressed assets and l Level 3 – The Southern Crossroads (SoX, Atlanta) private line, Internet access services, and other broadband services in aggregate for the University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University (2-24-03) shareholder and vendor/customer lawsuits back CapEx plans (5-5-03) toward evaluation of strategic growth opportu- l Reporting on Equant’s revenues, Didier Delepine, president and CEO, said: “We are particularly nities, some involving more new-builds either gratified to meet revenue expectations in the first quarter. via consolidation, re-deployment of assets, and l Although Equant “…continue[s] to manage…costs aggressively [it] continue[s] to effectively manage…capital expenditure at less than 10 percent of revenues in the quarter…” genuine from-scratch physical infrastruc- l What’s notable is that revenues for Equant’s Network Services increased 3.7 percent to $408 million ture builds. for the quarter, meaning that Equant would be budgeting CapEx expenditures in the tens of millions of dollars – a significant and far from “zero” amount. Source: TSA NewsFeed daily newsletter and diary of the international telecom and submarine cable industry.

19 www.fugro.com

20 Walking a Mile in Our Customers’ Shoes Being a System Supplier with Owner and Operator Experience

As the Chief Technical Officer of Tyco Tel- technologies to market as soon as possible. Until ecommunications, I am often asked how I recently, the most desirable technology was al- balance the responsibility for the develop- ways the one that provided the greatest capacity ment of new technologies in our undersea by packing the largest number of carrier chan- system supply business while simultaneously nels into the available optical bandwidth. The managing the engineering and operation of underlying belief was that the greater the over- the Tyco Global Network, which includes ex- all bandwidth of a system, the lower the cost per tensive amounts of fiber infrastructure, doz- individual circuit would be, thus making the ens of PoPs and cable stations around the system more financially attractive. In addition, globe, and all of the services and products that the prospect of having extra fiber pairs was seen we deliver to our capacity customers. The an- as a supplementary means of system financing; swer that I give is always the same: When it the sale of fiber pairs could generate sufficient comes to developing new technologies for the revenue to cover a significant portion of the ini- system supply market, the Tyco Global Net- tial system construction cost. work (TGN) provides us with a valuable and This mindset resulted in the installation of unique testing ground for differentiating what a great deal of undersea infrastructure, which is important to a system purchaser from that focused suppliers on dealing with ways to sat- which is superfluous. isfy the prevailing market demand volumes while Typically, the trend amongst all of the turn- diverting them from focusing on the issues that key undersea system suppliers has been to in- most concern system purchasers: cost (both crease the intrinsic traffic-carrying capacity of construction and operations), performance, and By Dr William Marra each new system and bring new, higher-capacity schedule. These three parameters are inter-woven

21 and I visualize them as a 3-dimensional matrix deployed the first commercial, repeatered fiber ing costs has been significantly improved by of system supply. This “supply matrix” needs to optic system in 1986, Optican 1; the first opti- owning and operating the Tyco Global Network. be carefully optimized for each purchaser’s re- cally amplified system in 1994, Americas-1; and Today, we work with our customers to under- quirements, objectives, and strategy. In this ar- developed and installed the highest capacity stand their needs, provide input from our expe- ticle, I will focus on the first two parameters: cost trans-Pacific system in the world, TGN Pacific. rience of running a network, and create an opti- and performance, since my background as CTO But we also know, from first-hand experience, mal balance between the initial construction and network operator give me fundamental ex- that leading-edge technology alone does not al- costs, the long-term operational costs, and the perience with those issues. ways win system supply contracts. Having been technological capabilities of the system. This Tyco Telecommunications’ historical roots personally involved in the “bids and proposals” cooperation yields a much more cost-efficient lie in the Bell System (AT&T). As a Bell Labora- process, I understand that, regardless of bid strat- and profitable solution than simply focusing on tories development organization, we prided our- egy, our success is often tied to the initial costs the short term construction costs or on techno- selves on being the technological leader in the of system deployment. Selecting the optimal logical advances. industry. We pushed the limits of transmission, technology for each application is an important I am pleased to say that the Tyco Global developed many of the fundamental technolo- contributor to minimizing initial system costs. Network incorporates the optimal technology (I gies used today, and were instrumental in defin- While many systems are awarded on the happily acknowledge my own bias) to meet the ing the international standards for undersea sys- basis of initial cost, actual network viability de- needs of each individual sub-network, and that tems and their integration with terrestrial net- pends on what we call the “total cost of owner- by being mindful of both the initial and the long- works. ship” of a system - the initial deployment costs term costs when designing each sub-network, we To give some examples of what we have combined with the long-term operating costs. have achieved one of the lowest OPEX figures in accomplished over the past several decades: we Tyco’s understanding of the long-term operat- the industry for a transoceanic network. We have

22 learned a great deal from this experience and focused on actual market needs for bandwidth. future undersea systems will incorporate this first Determining the most cost-effective system de- Dr. William C. Marra hand knowledge reflecting lessons learned. I will sign means working closely with the customer is Chief Technology summarize some of our key focus areas below. to understand his current and future traffic de- Officer and Vice mands. This effort directly impacts the initial President of Re- Initial Costs system deployment costs. For example, the search, Develop- The initial costs of system deployment are fun- difference between a system that carries sixty- ment, Network En- damental to a purchaser’s ability to execute a four 10-Gb/s channels and thirty-two 10-Gb/s gineering, and Operations for Tyco Telecom- project. They consist of the basic equipment channels is approximately 3 dB of net system munications where he is currently respon- infrastructure deployed at system start-up plus performance. This additional margin can in- sible the research, development and reali- all of the associated cost overhead of equipment crease repeater spacings by approximately 15 km, zation of current and future products re- integration, installation and commissioning. At thereby removing approximately 20 repeaters for quired to support undersea systems solu- Tyco Telecommunications we carefully select systems of trans-Atlantic distance; this would tions. He is also responsible for all as- each component that goes into our equipment reduce the total system cost by millions of pects of network operations and services for designs; we examine the cost of the associated dollars. the Tyco Global Network (TGN). technology, and analyze the performance ben- These lower capacity system designs should Over the last five years, Dr. Marra efits of the technology and how our choices will also allow for less costly wet plant fiber manage- has had overall network design and engi- impact the manufacturability and long-term re- ment and terminal designs, all contributing to- neering responsibility for Tyco’s undersea liability of the finished product. ward initial system cost savings for the customer. projects, including third party systems and In every dimension of our business we are Tyco’s own Global Network (TGN). driving costs down without sacrificing our fun- Long-Term Costs He received his BSEE from the damental commitment to quality and reliabil- Long-term costs are those that have historically Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, an MSEE ity. Once inventories are depleted, our reduced been of more concern to network operators than from Stevens Institute of Technology, and a manufactured product costs and optimized sys- to system suppliers. They include, but are not Ph.D. for joint work done at Stanford tem designs will drive down initial system con- limited to, equipment upgrades (software and University and Stevens Institute. He joined struction costs. hardware), equipment space, and operational the basic research organization of AT&T Bell One of the many lessons we have learned and maintenance costs. The importance of un- Laboratories in 1969. Since that time he in being a network owner and operator is how derstanding and managing the long-term costs has worked on the development of to balance the economic life of an undersea net- of a network have been amplified in recent years numerous fiber-optic telecommunications work with the appropriate network design ca- with advances in DWDM technology and the systems for both terrestrial and undersea pacity. With this in mind, Tyco’s latest system increased competitive pressures on equipment applications. proposals have utilized designs more precisely and bandwidth.

23 Network capacity upgrades are a major con- there is a fixed cost associated with every square and accurate, and eliminate the cumbersome and cern of every network owner. Owners want cer- meter of floor space that equipment occupies. expensive non-essentials. tainty that their initial investment will evolve This fact alone is helping to guide our product in a cost-efficient manner. Of course, suppliers development as we seek to increase equipment Overall System Performance cannot predict the future any better than pur- density while lowering heat generation and The systems that Tyco Telecommunications con- chasers, but we understand that once a vendor’s power consumption. structs for the third-party supply market are equipment is initially installed, those compo- Finally, operational costs are of paramount optimized using the same technology design nents and software tend to “stick” to a system importance to a network owner. The supplier’s approach as the infrastructure we have installed throughout its operating life. challenge is to find cost-effective network man- for the Tyco Global Network. One of the ben- Telecommunications components and soft- agement solutions that readily identify problems efits that we have gained through ownership of ware, as in the computer hardware and software and provide fault isolation diagnostics that are TGN is how to most efficiently operate, main- industries, are manufacture-discontinued almost simple to use and accurate in their findings. tain, install, and commission networks from a every day due to rapid advances in technology. Being able to quickly collect valuable informa- total cost of ownership perspective. Virtually Therefore, as a supplier, we must find ways to tion from the network without extensive analy- every undersea link in TGN has lit fiber for cus- design equipment that is both forward- sis can make the difference between a contented tomer traffic as well as for experimental testing. upgradeable and backward-compatible. A com- customer and a frustrated one. Having efficient We have done numerous in-field experi- plex problem to be sure, but one that we are tack- network management tools greatly simplifies ments on these actual, installed fiber systems, ling because of the tremendous long-term value service troubleshooting, making life easier – and which, collectively, constitute the largest fiber- that such flexibility offers our customers. cheaper – for both customer and supplier. optic test bed available in the world. There are Tyco Telecommunications is particularly A good system supplier with a practical un- segments on TGN that utilize dispersion flat- aware of the issue and impact of equipment derstanding of these realities will keep the tened fiber, the only commercially deployed space. We recognize that for a system owner, essential network management features simple system of this kind. This experimentation has How’s your image?

BJ Marketing Communications Providing support to companies in the submarine cable industry for over 10 years Brochure and literature design and production l exhibition design and management l website design and maintenance Contact Ted Breeze l Telephone +44 1206 230472 l Facsimile +44 1206 231640 l Email [email protected]

24 kept, and will continue to keep, Tyco Telecom- munications on the cusp of the technology and performance curve. We understand what can be done on actual systems, and perhaps even more significantly, what cannot be done on real sys- tems, the latter being crucial to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Most importantly, we are incorporating what we have learned into the products and sys- tem designs that we provide to our customers at cost points that make sense. I believe that many of these ideas would not have been developed by a company that only does system supply with- out the benefit of owner/operator experience. So, while many of our system supply competitors grapple with the focus of their R&D during this difficult period of industry contraction, for Tyco Telecommunications the path is clear. Our broad experience over the last several years as both a system supplier and a network operator has given us comprehensive insight into the challenges facing network operators today, and thus, we are well positioned to address those challenges for our system customers. The integrated structure of Tyco Telecom- munications uniquely enables us to offer turn- key system supply solutions that are in-line with market conditions and customer needs. I believe we understand our customers better today than at any other point in our history – and we are now putting that understanding to valuable use for our customers.

25 KEY DRIVER

The Delivery of Broadband Remains the key driver in the Asia Pacific Region by Neil Lambert

The constantly increasing level of demand by operators of only a decade before. Many other Internet growth and broadband adoption, end users for internet and data service appli- industries seriously envy the growth rates in this region, is currently the highest worldwide. cations, has not mirrored the volatility expe- achieved in the internet and data market, which The long term investment by many operators has rienced by other players in this market. today are being driven more and more by the made the current growth rates for these services This increasing demand has never waned deployment of broadband technology. possible. and whilst the rate of growth may be less than The Asia Pacific region in particular, has In a relatively short period of time, we have that predicted some years back, it has achieved been predicted to achieve strong growth rates, seen statistics reported indicating that in some rates that in some instances match and even as communication services expand into previ- countries, there are already in excess of 50% of exceed those experienced by mobile phone ously untapped and heavily regulated markets. homes with internet connections and as very large

26 relatively undeveloped markets in Asia join the of aggregate bandwidth consumed by broadband global trend for online services, we will see signifi- users surpasses that of dial up users. The number cant increases in demand levels for this region. of broadband subscribers in the Asia Pacific re- The key driver for current and future demand gion is forecast to rise 3 fold by 2005. is the expanding deployment of broadband tech- Broadband take up was initially highest in nology. Large capacity, interconnecting state of the South Korea, where high speed lines now reach art, fibre optic systems are linking all regions of significantly over half of all homes with internet the globe, making instant communications to any- access. Levels of adoption in Taiwan and Hong where, a reality. Kong are approaching South Korea, whilst Sin- These systems have the capacity and tech- gapore and Australia are forecasting large rates nology to ensure that they expand and upgrade to of growth. meet the increasing end user demand as it in turn In South Korea, they have found that fast grows. These systems are required to be sufficiently internet connections vastly increase access to in- large so as not become redundant in only a few formation, lift productivity and create new mar- years. kets. But entertainment of many sorts, as initially As regions commence utilization of expected, remains the biggest attraction. Internet Neil Lambert broadband services and become familiar with the access is now a greater part of everyday life in Neil has a Bachelor of Business degree with resultant ease and speed of their communication both the consumer and business critical opera- majors in Accountancy and Marketing and an facilities, significant changes occur to their us- tions markets. MBA. He has been the CMO for AJC for the age patterns. In more established markets the As these regional markets continue to de- past 3 years. Prior to that he was the National following usage patterns have become apparent: velop and expand, the requirement by the online General Manager of Market Information for l Broadband internet users tend to go online customers to access an increasing and diverse Telstra Australia. He has 12 years experience nearly 3 times more often and remain range of information and services increases. As in the telecommunications industry in online 4 times longer than their dial up familiarity and reliance on these expanded com- Marketing and Finance strategy and prior to counterparts. munication services grows, consumers expand that, held management positions in corporate l Broadband internet users also access be- their reach for information and range of serv- investment, legal and accounting tween 1.5 – 2.0 times as many web pages ices, not remaining static in the same simple organizations. during each session, as compared to other tasks and applications initially undertaken or users. trialled. for security and stability in the provision of these Individual country studies have shown that In turn, as the range of services and time services also increases. It is essential that the tel- although not as many users currently subscribe spent online increases, thereby increasing the de- ecommunications networks supporting these to broadband as to dial up services, the quantity pendence consumers place on them, the need applications and services meet the reliability re-

27 quirements of the users. This has lead to many years. Less than 2% of all faults occur at depths global operators designing and developing their of 4000+ metres, so by constructing cost effec- communication supply networks, based on the tive highly reliable systems such as the Australia wfnstrategies cost effective and technically efficient meshed Japan Cable, which utilizes the state of the art Providing business solutions to companies network concept. collapsed ring configuration, incorporation of seeking to evaluate a market segment or The very high capacity of these optical fi- such a system into the meshed network opera- technology application in the submarine bre submarine cables has led to the implemen- tion of both regional and global operators, pro- cable markets for telecom, oil & gas, and tation of one for one redundancy in some re- vides the dual benefit of diversity and restora- defense industries. cent systems. In some circumstances, one for tion. l one redundancy is an unnecessarily expensive Global meshed networks are a very effec- Analysis and development of business strategies solution and can add unnecessary infrastructure, tive way for operators to obtain instant networks l Business and financial plan and therefore end user costs as: at a cheaper cost than building them themselves, development and evaluation l it may add redundancy where it is not whilst providing the diversity and security ex- l Business environment assessment justified by the failure evidence available; pected by their users. l Competition analysis l alternative network architectures are avail- As end user broadband demand continues l Partner screening and evaluation able which may offer alternative ap- to grow in this region, we will see continued uti- l QA/QC proaches to providing redundancy through lization of the capacity provided by these large, l RFP process mediation and support meshed networks of non redundant sys- highly secure meshed network systems. At l Strategic alliance initiation tems present, there are significant levels of capacity l Technology assessment l it can add to the maintenance costs where that remains unlit and unactivated on many of WFN Strategies, LLC the costs of cable ships are related to sheath these systems in all regions. 19471 Youngs Cliff Road miles covered. Whilst the demand for this capacity to date Suite 100 Alternative architectures can afford has been considerably less than that forecast at Potomac Falls, Virginia 20165 USA economic benefits without compromising the time of construction of these systems, they reliability and leading overall, to a superior com- have been built to meet the demand require- Tel: +1 (703) 444-2527 mercial arrangement in some deepwater ments for many years. The current overhang of Fax: +1 (703) 444-3047 routings. available capacity will be gradually consumed [email protected] Recent studies in the Asia Pacific region as the impetus of broadband ensures end user [email protected] indicate that the analysis of available data from demand continues to grow. Those operators than www.wfnstrategies.com 1995 – 2001, shows that on past performance, can adjust their business models to the changed www.subtelforum.com for every 10,000 klms of cable deeper than 4000 market conditions will survive to service metres, there is on average one outage every 18 this demand into the future.

28 29 Examining the existing submarine telecom- munications infrastructure reveals that the Paul Budde continues over-provision of submarine capacity in the region has been in the intra-regional networks his article on the rather than in the large regional and trans- infrastructure of Asian Pacific cables. In the case of the intra-regional cables, over the last few years major cables cable systems coming into service, including FNAL (FLAG North Asian Loop), EAC (East Asia Crossing), APCN2 and C2C (City to City), have resulted StarHub, SingTel, Taiwan Fixed Network, in 16Tb/s of extra capacity. Teleglobe, Telekom Malaysia and Williams Com- By mid-2002, only a tiny fraction (876Gb/ munications. NEC (Japan) was awarded the sup- s) of this capacity was in use. On the other hand, ply contract for the 19,000km cable system. the trans-Pacific routes do not have this luxury In December 2001, the APCN-2 became of over supply of capacity and the pressure to operational. Connecting China, Hong Kong, Ja- lay more such cables has been mounting. It is pan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sin- noted that a new Tycom Pacific cable that is gapore and Taiwan, the network also tapped into Major planned for 2003 will add another 300Gb/s to trans-Pacific cables between China, Japan and trans-Pacific capacity. the US. The system, which offers 80Gb/s of ca- This overview concentrates on some of the pacity and is planned to be upgraded to 160Gb/ latest developments and highlights some of the s in 2003, will provide additional capacity to submarine lesser-known projects. meet the growing demand for voice, data and Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN 2) Internet bandwidth in the region. With a de- signed capacity of 2.5Tb/s, the system will be cable In April 2000, 44 companies joined forces to upgradeable using Dense Wavelength Division build APCN 2, a US$1.06 billion submarine ca- Multiplexing (DWDM) technology. ble network linking eight major markets. Major APCN2 was the first pan-Asian submarine projects in investors in the system include Cable & Wire- ring system to come into service. less, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa In July 2002, the APCN2 cable consortium Telecom, AT&T, BT, Global One, Japan Telecom, reported that multiple cable failures that had KDDI, Korea Telecom, KPN, Metromedia Fibre interrupted service on the APCN2 network had Asia Network Services, NTT Com, NCIC, PLDT, Reach, been fully restored, explaining that repairs were

30 delayed due to poor weather conditions in the porting continued expansion of its customer commercial traffic on most of its routes shortly sea off Japan. A section of cable near Taiwan had base. after launch. The southern loop linking Hong also apparently suffered damage. Customers had We expect that the cable would eventually Kong, Singapore and the Philippines was being complained of major disruptions to Internet pass through Japan and Asia and onto the US. installed. services. The company said that it was unfortu- The launch of C2C marked the first time a nate that despite the resilient design of the privately owned fibre cable system has landed APCN2 cable system, a double cable break prac- C2C in China. In this instance it was courtesy of tically put it out of service. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) set China Netcom, a key partner in the C2C project. up a subsidiary called C2C Asia Pacific Pte Ltd to China Netcom’s involvement allows Chinese customers to be offered services using C2C’s net- Australia-Japan Cable build and operate one of the largest-capacity submarine systems in the Asia Pacific. The work via PoPs in Beijing, Shanghai and Established in March 2000, the Australia-Japan project was also backed by carriers such as Globe Guangzhou. Cable (AJC) has been designed to provide up to Telecom of the Philippines, Hong Kong’s In January 2002, having already put 640Gb/s of undersea capacity to a shareholder iAdvantage, GNG Networks of South Korea, US$551 million of equity funding into its cable group of international carriers consisting of KDDI-SCS and New Century Infocomm of Tai- network, C2C secured a further US$700 million Telstra, Japan Telecom, NTT Com, AT&T, BT, wan. financing package to fund its US$2.1 billion sys- TeleGlobe, and MCI WorldCom. With a design capacity of 7.68Tb/s, the C2C tem. The planned capacity was more than system is a self-healing, highly redundant ring In August 2002, C2C Pte Ltd announced double that currently available between Australia configuration for greater network resilience and that it had signed US$13 million in new con- and Japan. The 12,500km cable had extensive route diversity. The consortium is targeting the tracts, bringing total sales to US$62 million since potential, especially as it had a landing point in telecommunications carriers and Internet Serv- the completion of its network in January 2002. Guam and therefore could be connected to a ice Providers in the region with its city-to-city This was in addition to the US$710 million worth significant number of trans-Pacific cable systems. (C2C) connectivity. of sales that it had secured before its January NEC was contracted to build the link. C2C secured pre-launch capacity purchases launch. In December 2001, the consortium an- worth US$710 million, mainly from its own part- East Asia Crossing (EAC) nounced that the cable installation was complete ners, taking up around 15% of the network’s on schedule and under budget. It commenced 160Gb/s initial capacity. Global Crossing’s EAC is a 19,500km submarine offering service in January 2002. In December 2001 the northern loop of the system that was planned to connect Japan, Hong By August 2002, the operator was report- US$2 billion 17,000km system was launched, con- Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the ing that the AJC cable had moved smoothly into necting China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Philippines and China on completion, expected full operational mode, with the claim that it was and the Philippines with an initial 160Gb/s of fibre in early 2003. It was expected that the EAC would achieving high performance standards and re- capacity. The northern loop began carrying live be fully integrated with the entire Global

31 Crossing Network and be the fastest system de- ployed in the region. In August 2002, parent Asia Global Cross- ing (AGC) announced its EAC cable system had been completed. This meant that the fully re- dundant submarine system connected Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Singapore and Manila. The immediate effect was that about 80% of our data traffic would stay within Asia, rather than be hubbed via the US. The cable will be linked into China as regula- tions permit. The cable is also to be connected with the Pacific Crossing 1 (PC-1) system. The EAC cable is monitored and main- tained by AGC-owned Network Operations Cen- tres in Singapore and Sydney. The cable system uses bi-directional transport capacity shared over four fibre pairs to provide initial transmission capacity of 80Gb/s and is upgradeable to 2.56Tb/ s, in scalable increments. In October 2002, AGC, majority owned by bankrupt telco Global Crossing, was forced to restate certain financial results for 2001 to wipe out network capacity swaps it did with other carriers. The company had previously revised downwards its first-quarter 2002 revenue to re- move sales from such swaps. Global Crossing had been in the habit of swapping network capacity to boost revenue and increase reported earnings. In November 2002, China Netcom took control of AGC. It was planned that AGC’s www.ctcmarine.com regional network and customers will be moved

32 to a new vehicle, Asia Netcom for US$120 mil- between Mumbai and Chennai was the respon- sortium, Network i2i Pte Ltd, announced that lion in equity and a reported US$150 million in sibility of Bharti Telesonic. The final phase of the i2i cable network had begun to carry com- finance. As part of the deal, AGC filed for Chap- the project was the submarine link from Singa- mercial traffic. Bharti Telesonic, a subsidiary of ter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court in pore to Mumbai. the Bharti Group, was the first carrier to use the New York. Subsidiary Pacific Crossing was ex- In Singapore, the i2i cable will link to i2i cable network. cluded from the deal, as was Taiwan Crossing, SingTel’s extensive cable network infrastructure which AGC said would be sold to a US investor. to the rest of the world, including the C2C cable Japan-US (J-US) Cable Network The transaction was expected to be finalised by network, SEA-ME-WE 3 and APCN 2. mid 2003. The cable installation was physically com- A group of more than 44 telcos including AT&T, pleted in April 2002. In July 2002, the cable con- Sprint, MCI WorldCom, KDDI Corp and Japan i2i cable Singapore Telecom (SingTel) and India’s Bharti Group have set up a 50:50 joint venture in 2000 to build and operate the world’s largest subma- rine cable in terms of capacity, linking Singapore, Chennai and Mumbai, with a total bandwidth of 8.4Tb/s and capable of carrying more than 100 million conversations simultaneously. It was re- ported that the project would also represent the largest infrastructure project ever between Singaporean and Indian companies. The joint venture partners, who formed Network i2i Pte Ltd to build and operate the net- work, said that they were committed to invest- ing an estimated US$650 million on the self- healing, 10,800km ring network. The entire i2i cable network utilises Dense Wavelength Divi- sion Multiplexing (DWDM) technology. The first phase of the cable network involved establish- ing the landing point in Chennai, and install- ing the 3,200 km Singapore-Chennai undersea leg of the cable network. The terrestrial cable link

33 34 Telecom have invested US$1 billion in a project Level 3 Communications leased 8Gb/s of million submarine cable that will connect India involving a 21,000km cable, consisting of a four- capacity in J-US. When Reach acquired Level 3’s with Singapore and Malaysia, providing 3.3Tb/s fibre pair, undersea fibre optic system that links assets in December 2001, it took over the lease of bandwidth to Indian IT companies. Japan, Hawaii and the US. The J-US landing and upgraded to 40Gb/s in March 2002. In a deal signed in January 2001, MEASAT points include US-based stations in Manchester and the government of Andhra Pradesh set up a and Morro Bay, California and Makaha, Oahu, consortium for the construction of the cable plat- Hawaii; Shima South, Maruyama and Kitaibaraki, Korea-Japan cable form, which was to link the southern Indian cit- Japan. In May 2001, Japan Telecom, Korea Telecom, NTT ies of Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam with Sin- The network was activated for commercial Communications and Kyushu Electric Power gapore and Kuala Lumpur. service in August 2001. signed a construction and maintenance agree- In the second phase of the rollout, the con- The J-US network was set using Wave- ment and a supply contract for their planned sortium planned to offer a gateway for traffic on length-Division Multiplexing (WDM) technol- submarine cable between Korea and Japan. The its network to the US and Europe through stra- ogy and had an initial capacity of 80Gb/s. Up- main contractor for the US$60 million project tegic alliances with other bandwidth consortia. grades to the landing station facilities that will was to be Fujitsu Ltd. The network was planned boost the capacity to 400Gb/s have been com- to be commissioned in the first half of 2002. Of Nava Network menced. Further capacity increases were being the partners, the three carriers each have a 20% considered with a view to providing a capacity stake in the cable, with Kyushu Electric Power The Nava-1 is a US$645 million, 9,000km long in the future of 640Gb/s. Total capacity of the holding 40%. The KJCN system was completed fibre optic cable linking the east and west coast cable is upgradeable to 1.5Gb/s. and brought into service in March 2002. The of Australia to Singapore and Jakarta, effectively The J-US cable network has been targeting completed cable network consists of two routes, tripling available international capacity in 2002 the strong demand for Internet and data con- each around 250km in length. These connect and providing the first multi-terabit high band- nectivity in the Asia Pacific region. There are over Pusan, South Korea, to Kitakyushu and Fukuoka, width cable directly linking the major Austral- 200 million Internet subscribers throughout the Japan. There are 12 optical fibre pairs per route ian cities of Perth and Melbourne. The company Asia-Pacific region, the Asia-Pacific is tipped to and has a capacity of 2.88Tb/s. It is the Asia Pa- has indicated that it intends to expand through- overtake the US as the world’s largest Internet cific region’s first non-repeatered cable system. out the Asian region. market by end-2003. Nava Networks is a privately owned com- According to NUA, which is typically be- pany backed by Dolphin Networks, a broadband hind with its stats, the number of Asia- Pacific Malaysia-India cable network developer, and its owner Dolphin Com- Internet users has already passed US Internet munications Partners, a New York-based private users. In September 2002, the figures were Asia- The Malaysia East Asia Satellite (MEASAT) Com- equity investor focused on the telecoms sector. Pacific 187 million and US-Canada 182 pany has linked up with the Indian state of Fujitsu has been appointed to build the cable. million. Andhra Pradesh to build and operate a US$300- The network will use Dense Wavelength Division

35 Multiplexing (DWDM) repeatered 10Gb/s tech- s initial capacity. Global Crossing joined with nology. The undersea cable portion of the sys- Marubeni Corporation to build and operate tem will have a minimum of 4 fibre pairs, each PC-1. equipped with a minimum of 64 channels of Fully integrated with the entire Global STM-64. Minimum total transmission capacity Crossing Network, landing points for PC-1 in- will be 2.56Tb/s. clude: The Nava-1 network will provide high ca- l Grover Beach, California, shared with pacity strategic data connection between Singa- Pan-American Crossing (PAC), pore, Indonesia and Australia and also connect l Harbour Pointe, Washington, to international cables, closing the Southern l Ajigaura, Japan, Hemisphere loop for international systems be- l Shima, Japan. tween Europe, North America and Asia. The net- Each of PC-1’s four fibre pairs have a trans- work will target telecommunications companies, mission capacity of 20Gb/s, for a total system ISPs, business-to-business e-commerce providers capacity of 80Gb/s, upgradeable to 640Gb/s. The and Web broadcasters. Construction of the net- total length of the system is approximately work began in 2001. 21,000km. In March 2002, Nava announced that it The future ownership and deployment of had decided it would be more cost effective to the PC-1 system remained dependent on the acquire its broadband links on the Perth-Mel- outcome of Global Crossing/Asia Global Cross- bourne leg of the project rather than build new ing (AGC) financial restructuring. A deal infrastructure. The company said that the deci- announced in November 2002 between AGC and tentions to consolidate its market position when, sion was due to the emergence of new infrastruc- China Netcom did not include Pacific Crossing. in December 2001, it acquired the Asian assets ture on the route and the changed market con- of Level 3 Communications. These included ditions. It had previously made the same deci- Reach Level 3’s North Asian cable system and capacity sion for the Sydney Melbourne leg. on the Japan-US (J-US) cable system, as well as The formation of Reach, a 50-50 joint venture data centres in Hong Kong and Tokyo. It has fol- Pacific Crossing (PC-1) between Australia’s Telstra Corp and Hong Kong’s lowed this up by signing major capacity leasing PCCW, in 2000 has seen the emergence of a sig- and interconnect deals with Level 3 to strengthen Introduced into service in December 1999, Glo- nificant player in the market. Reach owns and its global capability. bal Crossing’s PC-1 is a four-fibre-pair system operates a global network with a strong Asian In February 2003, Telstra and PCCW an- linking the US and Asia via Japan. PC-1 uses focus. It has an ownership interest in 50 subma- nounced a dramatic write down of their Reach advanced WDM technology to provide 80Gb/ rine cable systems. The operator signalled its in- assets, after reduced demand and tough price

36 competition had seriously hit revenues. The write wan. The entire cable system was designed with C2C network. Capacity on the C2C network is down totalled US$1.6 billion in value and, in six fibre pairs, spanning over 10,000km and expected to allow 360networks to reach seven Telstra’s case, an adjustment of A$965 million having a maximum capacity of 2.4-3.8Tb/s. major Asian markets including Japan, South (US$546 million) meant that the value of its stake With six fibre pairs, the cable system offers a Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, in Reach had been reduced to zero. maximum capacity of 2.4Tb/s on the Hong China and Singapore. In return, C2C has com- Kong-Taiwan-Japan leg and 3.8Tb/s on the sec- mitted US$200 million to buy capacity on the ond leg linking Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. 360pacific cable. Tiger 1 cable system Level 3 Communications has been expe- Construction began on 306pacific in No- Level 3 Communications Inc has built a high- riencing serious financial problems and in De- vember 2000 with the cable scheduled for serv- speed, broadband undersea cable system called cember 2001 signed a deal with Reach involv- ice by April 2002. However, in June 2001, Tiger 1, connecting Hong Kong to Tokyo, Ja- ing the sale of its Asian assets. The deal will 360networks put its 360pacific cable on hold pan. The cable system was completed in mid see Reach takeover all Level 3’s contracted ca- as it filed for bankruptcy protection in the US. 2001. In Hong Kong, the cable came ashore ble installation work associated with the Tiger In November 2002, parent company, on South Lantau Island and was then con- cable system. 360networks Corporation, announced that its nected to Level 3’s international gateway fa- reorganisation plan had become effective and it had successfully emerged from Chapter 11 cility in Quarry Bay. In Tokyo, it intercon- 360pacific nected with an undersea cable connecting Ja- protection in the US and CCAA protection in pan to Level 3’s network in the US. Canada-based global submarine cable opera- Canada. The system was designed to initially run tor 360networks set out plans to build a new at 320Gb/s – more than eight times the com- trans-Pacific cable called 360pacific. The com- China-South East Asia (CSC) Cable bined existing undersea capacity to and from pany proposed a 22,000km, six-fibre pair, Hong Kong and significantly higher than other 4.8Tb/s, submarine cable connecting the US, The China-South East Asia Cable, a terrestrial systems. It can also be expanded to 2.56Tb/s Canada and Japan, with Alcatel responsible for optical fibre cable linking China, Vietnam, Laos, as demand increases. However, as of March the network design, as well as the supply and Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore came into 2002, only 80Gb/s of capacity was lit. installation of submarine transmission and commercial service in February 2001. The six The cable is the first stage in the construc- protection equipment, including cable, repeat- participating countries formed a consortium in tion of a larger undersea network in the region, ers and terminal equipment in a contract 1995 to build this 7,000km optical fibre cable referred to as the Tiger network. The cable net- worth approximately US$1.1 billion. link. The national enterprises involved in the work was being extended to Taiwan and Korea Plans for the 360pacific cable connect to project are China Telecom, Vietnam Posts and with the completion of the proposed Tiger 2. capacity on the C2C cable network being built Telecommunications Corporation, Enterprise of Additional landing stations were under devel- by Singapore Telecom subsidiary C2C. 360net- Telecommunications Laos, the Communications opment in Pusan, Korea and Toucheng, Tai- works has already leased two fibre pairs on the Authority of Thailand, Telekom Malaysia, and

37 SingTel (Singapore). The cable connects the six countries at seven landing points, namely China (Shanghai and Guangzhou), Vietnam (Hanoi), Laos (Vientiane), Thailand (Bangkok), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and Singapore. With a design capacity of 2.5 Gb/s, the cable utilises Synchro- nous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) technology and will carry traffic between the East and Southeast Asia on a Droit de Passage (DDP) basis as well as From business case provide connectivity to other major systems. to operation Impact of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) traffic From satellite networks to A sector of the market to watch is the level of submarine International traffic now being carried on the VoIP platform. Whilst the conventional traffic From Alaska to Bahrain volumes remain strong and continue to grow- to New Zealand ing globally, Telegeography data indicates the emergence of what is now a significant VoIP com- ponent. Not everyone has our By the end of 2002, VoIP was running at depth of experience or about 10% of the total global call traffic volume, breadth of capability - up from virtually nothing 3 years earlier. This but now everyone can trend will certainly also be reflected in the profit from it Asia Pacific region. Realise your business vision with Cable & Wireless Paul Budde is a leading telecoms consultant in the Asia Pacific region. www.cw.com/goes His company BuddeComm produces one of the largest telecoms research websites: www.budde.com.au

38 A global guide to the latest known locations of the world’s cableships, as at MAY 2003.

SAILING DETAILS (or last known location) Vessel Name Built Best Contact GT Speed Sailed Date Port Country

Arcos 2002 BOHLEN & DOYEN 3790 0 31/03/03 Gibraltar Gibraltar Asean Explorer 2002 SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS 14988 14.5 19/04/03 Singapore Republic of Singapore Asean Restorer 1994 SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS 11156 16 Singapore Republic of Singapore

C.S.Wave Mercury 1982 GLOBAL MARINE SYSTEMS 10105 16 Aioi Japan Cable Protector 2002 SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2935 0 Singapore Republic of Singapore Cable Retriever 1997 SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS 11026 16 02/04/03 Kaohsiung Taiwan Chamarel 1974 NOT APPLICABLE 5925 16.5 Cape Town South Africa Discovery 1990 FRIARY OCEAN 8248 12 19/04/03 Hartlepool United Kingdom Dock Express 20 1983 DOCKWISE 14793 15 11/04/03 Vancouver(CAN) Canada Elektron 1969 STATNETT ENTREPENOR 1628 0 28/03/03 Immingham United Kingdom Havila Reel 1976 HAVILA SHIPPING 3186 11 Veracruz Mexico Heimdal 1983 ALCATEL SUBMARINE NETWORKS 10471 16 Kobe Japan

39 SAILING DETAILS (or last known location) Vessel Name Built Best Contact GT Speed Sailed Date Port Country

Iberus 1978 TRANSOCEANIC CABLE SHIP 8334 17 18/03/03 Jiangyin People’s Republic of China Ile de Batz 2001 NOT APPLICABLE 13973 15.4 05/04/03 Durban South Africa Ile de Brehat 2002 LOUIS DREYFUS ARMATEURS 13978 15.4 Singapore Republic of Singapore Ile de Sein 2001 NOT APPLICABLE 13978 15.4 17/04/03 Naples Italy KDD Pacific Link 1993 TOKYO LEASE 7960 13 Moji Japan Leon Thevenin 1983 FRANCE TELECOM 4845 15 07/04/03 Vigo Spain Lodbrog 1985 ALCATEL SUBMARINE NETWORKS 10243 14.5 Bristol United Kingdom Maersk Defender 1996 MOLLER A.P. 5746 0 21/04/03 Dover Strait United Kingdom Maersk Recorder 2000 MOLLER A.P. 6292 14 Yokohama Japan Maersk Reliance 2001 MOLLER A.P. 6292 14 27/03/03 Curacao Netherlands Antilles

Maersk Repeater 2000 MOLLER A.P. 6292 14 25/03/03 Singapore Republic of Singapore Maersk Responder 2000 MOLLER A.P. 6292 14 27/03/03 Christiansted American Virgin Islands Manta 1992 JADE-DIENST 2723 15 Flushing Netherlands Miss Marie 1998 COASTLINE MARITIME 3639 0 Singapore Republic of Singapore Nordkabel 1969 NOT APPLICABLE 395 10 23/03/03 Bergen Norway Pertinacia 2003 ITALMARE 12100 14 24/03/03 Catania Italy Pleijel 1972 TELEVERKET 1650 11 17/04/03 Uddevalla Sweden Raymond Croze 1983 FRANCE TELECOM 4845 15 31/03/03 Kalamata Greece

40 SAILING DETAILS (or last known location) Vessel Name Built Best Contact GT Speed Sailed Date Port Country

Segero 1998 KOREA SUBMARINE TELECOM 8323 15 12/04/03 Okpo Republic of Korea Sir Eric Sharp 1989 GLOBAL MARINE SYSTEMS 6141 13.5 Bermuda Bermuda Stanelco 1975 ALCATEL CONTRACTING NORWAY 1692 12 Falkenberg Sweden Teliri 1996 ITALMARE 8345 14.5 15/04/03 Augusta Italy Teneo 1992 TRANSOCEANIC CABLE SHIP 3051 14.5 20/04/03 Cape Finisterre Spain

ORGANISING A CONFERENCE?

has entered into an arrangement with Give your exhibition or conference the maximum exposure to the submarine Lloyd’s Register - Fairplay telecoms industry. making available, complimentary to subscribers, comprehensive Advertise your event in databases of commercial vessels (www.sea-web.org/), Submarine Telecoms Forum ports and companies(www.portguide.com). and reach all the key people. In order to qualify for a free trial of these services, contact Email: [email protected]. [email protected]@subtelforum.com

41 The silence after the battle!

My dear friend

We, the few survivors, are all walking Friendly shots have been seen here needed reconstruction will require time, in a field of ruins, exhausted. We can- and there? Probable accident? effort, creativity, open minds. What not recognise what was once, only 2 Some key people have disappeared, form will the new order take? Which years ago, a field of bounty, where hiding themselves in their bunker office model will prevail? Have lessons been everybody could harvest with joy and or having rushed out in another posi- learned? Where are the new leaders? excitement. At that time the relation- tion, together with their guards. The route to peace is often much ships were easy, new comers were Any idea where he could be? A longer than the one to war! But, let’s most welcomed, everyone was show- rumour says he is most likely dead! But walk! ing its good face. Now we can see here who knows, he could be back for Jean Devos and there some “pockets of resist- Suboptic next year! ance”, like the planning activities My dear friend, for the time being Jean Devos, Past President of SubOptic, was formerly toward a possible SMW4; we suffer the trust is gone, the game is over; Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Tyco sometimes from a desperate act of everyone is suspicious of the other, and Submarine Systems, and previously Director, Submarcom and Director Marketing and Projects for “suicide bombing” through a deadly no one listens; yesterday best friends are Alcatel Submarine Networks. He is currently President dumping price on an upgrade. now bashing each other. The much of Axiom.

42 Diary FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITIONS

20-22 May 2003 Intelsat Global Telecommunications Meeting, Washington DC, USA. www.intelsat.com 26-28 May 2003 PTC’s “New Frontier of Info-Communications – Challenge from Asia” Tokyo Bay, Urayasu City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. www.my2003.org/ 4-6 June 2003 Oceanology International Americas, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. www.oceanologyinternational.com 24-27 June 2003 Third International Workshop on the Scientific Use of Submarine Cables & Related Technologies, University of Tokyo, Japan. http://seasat.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SSC03/ 24-27 August 2003 13th International Symposium on Unmanned Untethered Submersible Technology, University of New Hampshire, USA. www.ausi.org/uust/uust.html 26-29 August 2003 Offshore Comunications Conference and Exhibition 2003, Houston, Texas, USA. www.offshorecoms.com 2-5 September 2003 Offshore Europe 2003, Aberdeen, Scotland, www.offshore-europe.co.uk/ 9-12 September 2003 Defence Systems & Equipment International, London, UK, www.dsei.co.uk/ 22-26 September 2003 Oceans 2003 MTS/IEEE, San Diego, California, USA, www.oceans2003.com/ 7-8 October 2003 4th India Telecom Conference, Mumbai, India. www.indianteleconference.com 12-18 October 2003 ITU Telecom World 2003, Geneva, Switzerland, www.itu.org 24-26 November 2003 Hydro 2003: 4th Australasian Hydrographic Symposium, Christchurch, New Zealand, www.hydrographicsociety.org.nz/conference.htm 17-19 February Underwater Intervention 2004, NewOrleans, Louisana, USA. www.underwaterintervention.com 16-19 March 2004 Oceanology International 2004, London, UK, www.oceanologyinternational.com/ 28 March - 1 April 2004 SubOptic 2004, Principality of Monaco, www.suboptic.biz

43