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

Issue 11 November 2003

Second

1 Issue Anniversary Contents Editor’s Exordium 3 Tracking the Cableships 38 Emails to the Editor 4 Letter to a Friend Jean Devos 41 NewsNow A brief synopsis of current news items 5 Upcoming Conferences 42

Maintenance News 8

SubOptic goes from strength to strength Advertisers John Horne 11 C&W GOES 5,6,40 New life discovered in the Caribbean OFS 7 Julian Rawle 14 Global Marine 8,9,10 SubOptic 2004 13 Reliability by design Great Eastern 19 In practice and in the field Dr Barbara Dean and Dr Jeff Gardner 20 Tyco 24 STF Reprints 25 A unique event PTC 2004 26 The PTC 2004: New Times - New Strategies Fugro 29 Richard Nickelson 27 CTC 30 Lloyds Register 30 Those other submarine utilities Caldwell Marine 32 Bill Wall 31 STF Marketplace 34 It’s not all a bed of roses Nexans 37 Scott Griffith 35 WFN Strategies 40

2 Submarine Telecoms Forum is published quarterly by WFN Strategies, L.L.C. The publication may not be reproduced ExordiumExordiumExordium or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the November’s issue marks the second anniversary of Submarine Telecoms Forum, and permission of the publishers. Liability: while every care is what a ride it has been, not only for us your humble editors, but the industry taken in preparation of this publication, the publishers as a whole. cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the In our first issue, we set out a few principles, which we have tried to hold information herein, or any errors which may occur in firm. advertising or editorial content, or any consequence arising from any errors or omissions. Submarine Telecoms Forum was dedicated to providing an international medium for the communication of ideas and opinions pertaining to the dynamics and Submarine Telecoms Forum is an independent technologies of the submarine telecom industry. We envisioned Submarine Telecoms commercial publication, serving as a freely accessible forum Forum as being a platform for discourse on submarine telecom cable and network for professionals in industries connected with submarine operations where industry professionals can provide guest commentary and optical fibre technologies and techniques. The publisher cannot be held responsible for any views expressed by information on system and service provision. contributors, and the editor reserves the right to edit any We promised then, and continue to promise you, our readers: advertising or editorial material submitted for publication. · That we will provide a wide range of ideas and issues; © WFN Strategies L.L.C., 2003 · That we will seek to incite, entertain and provoke in a positive manner.

Contributions are welcomed. Please forward to the It’s not a perfect medium, and we have surely made our share of mistakes, but Managing Editor: Wayne F. Nielsen, WFN Strategies, we hope in the long run that we have supported our industry in a small way 19471 Youngs Cliff Road, Suite 100, Potomac Falls, through some rather troubling times. We do appreciate that such times are not Virginia 20165, USA. entirely behind us, and that we must continue to fight the good fight. Tel: +[1] 703 444-2527, :+[1] 703 444-3047. And in a year from now when we are all sitting around fat and Email: [email protected] happy, we can look back at these times with some amusement, and General Advertising congratulate ourselves for our prowess and fortitude - at least Tel: +[1] 703 444 2527 let’s hope we can. Email: [email protected] Bon appetit Advertising - Europe/ME/Africa - Hildegard Peltier Tel: +[33] 1 47 82 61 74 Email: [email protected] Wayne Designed and produced by Ted Breeze BJ Marketing Communications, Colchester, UK..

3 Thank you for producing yet another Emails to the Editor interesting and thought provoking issue of Submarine Telecoms Forum. It is a crucial link in keeping information flowing in a highly Thanks and great issue! Good article on it sometime in the disrupted environment. stuff. future, as it fits with some recent My attention was drawn particularly Sara L. Pratt articles you have done about by the list of round table subjects Tyco Telecommunications getting better use and availability listed in the SubOptic survey, ...... from existing assets. which showed cable-laying analysis This seems particularly relevant at the head of the list. This has I just saw, yet again, another to your readers when large long been a subject of interest great issue. organisations such as ACMA seem to me, and one in which I have participated and attempted to Elaine Stafford to be moving towards just improve over a number of years. The David Ross Group penalising suppliers for failure, instead of running a balanced If you have any further information ...... scorecard, which can reward or from the survey regarding the Excellent magazine, which I have penalise in direct relationship nature and level of the interest used a lot to research something to the way in which they improve in this subject it would be useful I am doing at present. or worsen the fortunes of their to me in considering future ways customers. to address the issues to assist Coming back into the industry in meeting industry performance after a long break, it surprises I guess the other area of concern objectives. me that one area that you and the I have found in the example I have Alan Jordan rest of the industry have covered been looking at is that, whilst Spectral Solutions Limited in parts but not as a whole is planners may do an availability business continuity. Whilst it and contingency management study is a well-developed tool for on prior to implementation, these may [While we don’t have further land networks, it seems relatively not be monitored regularly to industry survey details about the new to sub cables, although it assess whether in practice changes subject, one can make direct should not be as we roughly used and upgrades need to be made. contact with the secretary to the the principles years ago. I have SubOptic Executive Committee, John only found one reference to it John Pockett Horne, at [email protected], who and wonder if you should run an Pockettbook Associates Ltd would welcome all good ideas.]

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

Asia Netcom Migrates Indonesian ISPs Demand for submarine cable rising in FLAG Telecom Sold to Indian Company Traffic Caribbean and Latin American countries FLAG Telecom Group Limited has entered into an Asia Netcom has announced that PT Dyviacom There is already a requirement for new submarine Agreement with Reliance Gateway Net Private Lim- Intrabumi has completed migration of its capacity within the Caribbean region and a lack of ited, a subsidiary of Reliance Infocomm Limited. connection to Asia Netcom’s global IP network. capacity designed to handle intra-regional Latin Reliance Gateway will acquire 100% of the compa- American traffic, say Pioneer Consulting. ny’s common shares on a fully diluted basis for an www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ aggregate purchase price of $207 million. 21_september_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ 26_october_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ Carrier Survey Indicates Spending 19_october_2003.htm Upswing , Telecom Italia Units France Telecom Expands in Pacific to Collaborate Telecom carrier responses to KMI’s 2003 Optical France Telecom has opened a point of presence at Networking Equipment Survey indicate that carri- International Carrier Sales and Solutions, and Equinix’s Singapore Internet Business Exchange to ers plan on increasing their optical-networking Telecom Italia Sparkle SpA, a subsidiary of Telecom improve connectivity for carriers and ISPs in Asia- equipment spending in 2004 and beyond. Italia SpA, have agreed to collaborate. Pacific and for customers on its global network. www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ 28_september_2003.htm 21_september_2003.htm 12_october_2003.htm

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

5 Sri Lanka allows SEA-ME-WE-3 purchase Pursuant to the investigation by the Telecoms Regu- latory Commission of Sri Lanka all operators per- mitted their own international transmission infra- structure could now purchase IRUs in the cable ca- pacity of the SEA-ME-WE-3. Global Crossing Announces First Trans- North American Telecom Market www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ European 10 GigE Connection Showed Continued Stability 2_november_2003.htm Global Crossing is supporting the first trans-Euro- According to RHK, the North American telecom mar- pean 10 Gigabit connection between the ket continued to show stability in the third quarter of SWIFT Picks Sprint for IPLs Dutch national research network (SURFnet) in and 2003, with revenue 2% over the second quarter. Sprint has renewed its 10-year relationship with the European Organization for Nuclear Research. www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ SWIFT, the cooperative providing secure messaging www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ 9_november_2003.htm services for 7,500 financial institutions worldwide. 2_november_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ Singapore Technologies, Global Crossing 21_september_2003.htm Level 3 Announces New Services Deal Approved by FCC Level 3 Communications, Inc. has announced that Global Crossing and Singapore Technologies Trans-Tasman IP VPN Service Launched it has leveraged its award-winning ONTAP(SM) Telemedia have announced that the Federal Com- and TelstraClear have launched a joint Internet system to launch a new wholesale private line serv- munications Commission has approved Global‘s Protocol Virtual Private Network service, Trans- ice in the U.S. and Europe. application for transfer of control to ST Telemedia. Tasman IP, between Australia and New Zealand. www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ 9_november_2003.htm 19_october_2003.htm 21_september_2003.htm

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7 MAINTENANCEMAINTENANCE NEWSNEWS

Alcatel Adds DWDM Platforms for Long- ALSTOM Sells ROV Unit First Cable for East Africa Announced Haul, Unrepeatered Network ALSTOM has sold its Robotics business located in A consortium of Southern and East Africa carriers Alcatel has reinforced its family of dense wavelength Davis, California in a management buyout. plan to build a system from South Africa to Djibouti. division (DWDM) products with the in- www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ troduction of the Alcatel 1626 Light Manager, a new 19_october_2003.htm 28_september_2003.htm core DWDM platform. www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ Dutch Sea Cable in Wind Farm Project FOG Cable Repaired 5_october_2003.htm Twelve km off the east coast of Ireland, Dutch Sea The damaged FOG cable that has slowed Bahrain Cable is taking part in the construction of a pilot Internet browsing speeds for the past few weeks Alcatel Completes Portugal Domestic wind farm on the Arklow Bank. has been fixed, announced Batelco head of corpo- System www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ rate affairs, Ahmed Al Janahi. 2_november_2003.htm www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ Alcatel and PT Comunicações — a subsidiary of 2_november_2003.htm the Portugal Telecom Group, the largest telecom- munications and multimedia business organization East African Leaders Support EASCS in Portugal – have announced that a new optical East African leaders are touting the recently pro- Global Marine Launches JADE undersea cable network, named CAM Ring, has posed East African Submarine Cable System as a Global Marine has announced a revolutionary tech- entered service. key to economic development in the region. nology to improve the quality of cable jointing. www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ 5_october_2003.htm 9_november_2003.htm 12_october_2003.htm

8 MAINTENANCEMAINTENANCE NEWSNEWS More Cable Ships Use Makai Ocean Nexans Straps Cable to Pipeline for Pirelli To Supply Submarine Fiber-Optic Engineering’s Monitoring Software Innovative Placement Solution Cable To Link Kuwait And Iran Makai Ocean Engineering Inc. reports that a number Nexans of Norway recently supplied a URC-1 DA2 Emirates Telecommunications & Marine Services of cable ships have now added the company’s cable with 96 cores G655 to the Dutch installer Jan FZE (e-marine) in the United Arab Emirates has MakaiLay At-Sea Cable Lay Monitoring System de Nul, now Boskalis, for one of the segments for awarded Pirelli the contract for supplying subma- software. the PGN project in Indonesia. rine and land fiber-optic cables, terminal transmis- sion equipment, and accessories for a prestigious www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ project which will link Kuwait City with Ganeveh in 12_october_2003.htm 19_october_2003.htm the Iran. NAZ Picks Tyco to Survey Cables in Parkburn Precision Handling Receives www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ California Waters Major Cable Handling Order From E- 21_september_2003.htm Marine The North America Zone (NAZ) Maintenance Polar Network Moves Forward Agreement has recently announced that it has se- Parkburn PHS recently announced the award of a lected Tyco Telecommunications to conduct under- Contract from Emirates Telecommunications & Polarnet is an ambitious submarine cable project sea survey and inspections of two submarine tel- Marine Services FZE (e-marine) of the United Arab that will link Europe, the United States and the Pa- ecommunications cable systems off the California Emirates for an 18 Wheel pair AC Drive Linear cific Rim with a cable running along Russia’s Arctic coast. Cable Engine (LCE) and Emergency Cable Brake. Coast. www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ 28_september_2003.htm 9_november_2003.htm 9_november_2003.htm

9 MAINTENANCEMAINTENANCE NEWSNEWS

RPS GROUP Acquires Hydrosearch SMD Set To Acquire Ongoing Business Of Tyco to Sell TGN RPS, Europe’s leading environmental consul- Hydrovision Tyco International Ltd. intends to sell the Tyco Glo- tancy, announced the acquisition of Hydrosearch In a joint press release issued recently by Soil bal Network (TGN), its undersea fiber optic telecom- Associates Ltd, a significant provider of geologi- Machine Dynamics and Hydrovision it was con- munications network, as well as to exit more than cal and other environmental services to the en- firmed that Heads of Agreement have been 50 other businesses. ergy sector. signed for SMD to acquire the ongoing www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ Hydrovision business subject to the usual dili- 9_november_2003.htm 28_september_2003.htm gence and contract. www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ WFN Strategies Establishes Strategic SEA-ME-WE-3 BU to Be Repaired in 12_october_2003.htm October Alliance With KW Tunnell Federal Services Group Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd. SMD Completes The Acquisition Of (PTCL) reports that submarine cable SEA-ME- Hydrovision’s Ongoing Business WFN Strategies recently announced the establish- WE-3 will be out of service from 05-15th October ment of a strategic alliance with the K.W. Tunnell 2003 due to the replacement and repair of faulty In a recent press release, John Reece, MD of SMD, Federal Services Group of Springfield, Virginia for branching unit (BU) on Segment 5 in the Indian confirmed that SMD has completed the acquisition the joint marketing of submarine cable management Ocean. of the ongoing business of Hydrovision. services to the US government.

www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/ 5_october_2003.htm 9_november_2003.htm 26_october_2003.htm

10 Why so? I can already hear the cynical ones amongst you say this man is clearly on something?

Well what is the evidence? At the end of August the SubOptic Programme Committee were inundated with well over 200 abstracts for papers to be submitted at Monaco. This number was almost identical with the number submitted for Kyoto, which attracted an audience of nearly 1200 attendees. These abstracts covered a diverse range of topics and came from well over 60 organisations. So there is an industry out there who have survived or are new entrants and are interested in telling their message to others in the community. The Programme Committee after reviewing these abstracts, a task supported by over 60 SUBOPTIC 2004 goes from referees - another sign of the strength of our community - have decided upon a programme of 60 oral presentations in 12 sessions and one strength to strength longer sessionof 100 poster presentations. by John Horne These sessions will cover topic areas such as Market Place, Business and Commercial, With the launch of the Preliminary clearly be the “must attend” Convention of our Network Architecture and Design, Equipment Programme for SubOptic 2004, the planning industry. and Component Technologies, Cable Design and for this event, the principle International Despite the dramatic downturn the Marine Operation, and Network Operation and Convention for the Subsea Communications industry has experienced since Kyoto in 2001, it Service Level. industry goes from - Strength to Strength. is becoming clear that Monaco will be a success. Our aim at the start was to try to strengthen SubOptic 2004, which will be held in This will help to give the industry the launchpad the programme in the Market and Business/ Monaco, from 29 March to 1 April 2004, will occasion it so clearly has been looking for. Commercial areas and I am pleased to say that

11 overlooked. We have invited an impressive range So there you have it, at this stage SubOptic John Horne has been in- of Keynote Speakers who will give the audience 2004 has already attracted: volved with the develop- something to think and talk about. These include z As many abstracts as Kyoto, which had ment, planning, and Serge Tchuruk, Chairman and CEO of Alcatel and 1200 attendees implementation of Sub- Phil Metcalf CEO of Global Marine who have z A programme that is as rich and more marine Communications already accepted. We will keep you updated as varied than Kyoto and will be supported Systems since 1969. In we receive the acceptances from the others. by Keynote Speakers and Roundtables the 1980’s he was re- Two Roundtable Sessions have been you will not wish to miss. sponsible for the devel- organised and in another first for SubOptic, z An attendance base which is larger at opment activity, which supported the introduc- individuals still working in the heart of our this time than at a similar time for Kyoto tion of BT’s first optical fibre submarine sys- industry will moderate these. The first to discuss z An Exhibition Hall representative of our tems. He later took responsibility for Project the “Future Shape and Size of the Industry” with industry. Managing the major International Transmission an operator/carrier/financial perspective will be z Unparalleled networking opportunities Centres at the heart of BT’s Digital Transmis- chaired by Leigh Frame (Alcatel). We have invited provided by our sponsorship and social sion Network. He left BT in 1996 and has since Brian Rousell (WCI) to chair the second to discuss programme. worked as a Consultant. At SubOptic 2001, he “How to ensure competitive supply” from a So that’s the evidence that makes me say was one of the Vice-Chairmen of the Papers manufacturing/services perspective. that SubOptic 2004 will be a success in achieving Committee and took on the role of Secretary So that’s the outline of the formal our objective, which quoting from our to the SubOptic Executive Committee, the body programme. The opportunities to socialise, Constitution is: “To promote the interests of the that provides strategic management to the network and discuss what has been presented Submarine Telecommunications Cable SubOptic series of International Conventions. have not however been overlooked. community by exchanging ideas and The Convention will be supported by an information, educating within the Community our target of achieving about 1/3 of the Exhibition, which has already attracted, at the and fostering debate.” presentations in these areas has been achieved. time of writing, nearly 50 booths and by a wide Our website http://www.suboptic.biz In support of these presentations the PC range of sponsors. Another sign of the strength provides all the information you need about have also prepared a range of Tutorial and Short of the industry, supporting SubOptic 2004. SubOptic 2004, so it only leaves me to say: Course presentations. These cover 12 areas as As another innovative feature, SubOptic is “IF YOU WANT YOUR also launching a Market Corner initiative. This diverse as Financing and Business Case ORGANISATION TO PARTICIPATE preparation at one end to Fibre Non-linearity at is aimed at small organisations or new entrants IN SHAPING THE FUTURE the other. So all requirements will be catered for. to the industry who want to promote themselves What about the Keynote Speakers and in the Exhibition Hall, but without the expense STRENGTH OF OUR INDUSTRY, Roundtable Sessions? Well these have not been of taking a conventional booth. JOIN US IN MONACO”

12 13 A friend of mine recently said to me, “You New life discovered know, when the telecom market picks up, it won’t be a ‘turnaround’, it will be an entirely new and different market.” under water in the Nowhere is this truer than in the Caribbean. For, while the submarine cable Caribbean Basin market itself went into a coma, other drivers in the commercial environment, such as free trade agreements, privatisation, de-regulation, market liberalisation, and broadband penetration have continued to operate. So what is the demand forecast for the Caribbean? Where are the growth opportunities and how attractive are they?

The Caribbean Market The Caribbean submarine cable market is fragmented. With the exception of concerted action by the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to end the monopolies of Cable & Wireless, each Caribbean state generally follows its own telecom development strategy. As a result, there is a broad range of growth rates for the 21 Caribbean nations included in a recent study by Pioneer Consulting. Demand for submarine capacity on each island is forecast to grow at anywhere between 12% and 34% per year. Most of this growth is coming from by Julian Rawle, Pioneer Consulting Internet demand.

14 Of the 21 Caribbean states studied: z All countries with a relatively low GDP these three countries have not z 15 have privatised PTT’s (with Bahamas but relatively high Internet penetration developed as fast as elsewhere. going through the process now). are served by C&W. Could it be that z 5 have totally open telecom markets. monopolies have a beneficial role to End of C&W’s monopoly z 3 maintain state monopolies. play in helping people get online ? Cable & Wireless remains the dominant player z 13 are in the process of liberalising their z GDP’s in Bahamas and Netherlands in the Caribbean region, especially in terms of telecom market. Antilles are inflated by banking and oil international traffic and submarine connectivity. z 14 retain monopolies on ILD (10 of revenues respectively. However, the drive towards free markets has which are controlled by C&W). z Countries in the “Low/Low” category exposed C&W businesses, traditionally regarded represent 82% of the Caribbean as “cash-cows”, to new competition. Segmenting The Market population. Of these, 89% live in Cuba, Given the disastrous forays into the global Exhibit 1 throws up some interesting Haiti, or the Dominican Republic. For IP market and cable TV in the UK, Cable & anomalies : a variety of reasons, Internet markets in Wireless needs to continue to generate cash from its Caribbean assets. C&W still holds monopolies Exhibit 1 : Caribbean Internet Market Segmentation on ILD service in a number of Caribbean islands. These monopolies will gradually be broken down High A ntigua and Barbuda Aruba but C&W will maintain a strong presence and Dominica Bermuda offer stiff competition to any new entrants. S a in t K itts a n d N e v is Cayman Islands S a in t L ucia M a rtin iq u e Success in competing with C&W in the ILD T rin id a d a n d Tobago Puerto Rico market will depend mainly on price. This means US V irg in Islan d s that next generation network infrastructure will be required to provide a cost advantage over In tern et Penetration C&W’s existing cable assets. B arbados Cuba Development of Broadband D om inican Rep. G renada The rate at which Internet users transition from G uadeloup e dial-up to broadband is key to providing H a iti Jam aica Bahamas opportunities to install new submarine fibre St. Vincent and th e N e th e rla n d s A n tille s optic capacity. Broadband take-up in the Low G renadines Caribbean has so far been relatively slow. Low GDP per H igh However, some governments are recognizing the Head importance of this technology for the

15 Exhibit 2 : Forecast Caribbean Average Access Speed and Bandwidth per User 2003-2013 Obsolete cables There are six relatively modern ultra-long haul 300,000 cable systems serving the rim of the Caribbean Basin (see Exhibit 3) but “Americas-2” is the only 250,000 ultra-long haul connection available from a point inside the Caribbean region. Within the 200,000 Caribbean Basin itself, there are only two regional submarine cable systems with multiple landing points. 150,000

bps The Eastern Caribbean Fibre System (ECFS) was commissioned by Cable & Wireless in 1995 100,000 and has a design capacity which is less than half of the total estimated demand for Caribbean 50,000 regional connectivity today. TCS-1, which connects Puerto Rico with the Dominican Republic, Martinique, and Colombia, was built 0 in 1990 and has a capacity of only 100 Mbps. 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Together with “Cayman-Jamaica” (CJFS), these regional systems are regarded as a composite Average Access Speed Average Bandwidth per User backbone connecting the Western Caribbean to the Eastern Caribbean via Puerto Rico. None of development of the economy and a number of Caribbean access infrastructure is clearly these systems has the technology to meet future “e-initiatives” have been taken. Pioneer forecasts inadequate to support demand for Internet demand either in terms of quality or capacity. that 13% of Caribbean Internet users will have a connectivity (see Exhibit 2). The access broadband connection by 2013. bottleneck is constraining demand growth, Opportunities in the Caribbean limiting it to an average of 30% per year across Demand forecasts indicate that new submarine Bandwidth Usage and Access Speeds the region. cable systems will be required in Antigua & How much bandwidth each Internet user This restricts the size of attachments which Barbuda, Barbados, and Guadeloupe over the requires to drive their favourite applications and can be sent via e-mail, it sends dynamic web next ten years. High demand growth rates have the amount of bandwidth available in the access pages into slow motion, and multi-media also been forecast for Cayman, Netherlands loop are both critical factors in estimating applications, such as games and music Antilles, Puerto Rico and USVI. Internet traffic satisfiable Internet demand. downloads, become an exercise in futility. in the Caribbean is driven mainly by demand

16 Exhibit 3 : West Caribbean Submarine Cable Systems for North American content and yet there is no direct North American submarine cable connection to Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & Grenadines (see Exhibit 4). To Florida, USA To Miami, USA Privatisation & Market Liberalisation create ARCOS opportunities (960 Gbps) ARCOS (960 Gbps) The sale of TeleBermuda International, resulting from Brasil Telecom’s acquisition of the Emergia (1.92 Tbps) “360americas” cable system, has caused To Puerto questions to be raised about the island’s Rico dependence on a single cable system. A debate CJFS Antillas-1 TCS-1 (10 Gbps) (3.7 Gbps) is currently raging in the Netherlands Antilles (140 Mbps) over the privatisation of incumbent Antelecom. To USVI PAC (40 Gbps) To Puerto To USVI & Rico A Free Trade Agreement between the United Venezuela ARCOS States & Dominican Republic is expected in 2004. (960 Gbps) Maya-1 (20 Gbps) Cuba has no submarine cable connectivity to the outside world but it has attracted foreign To Mexico & California, USA investment in its telecom sector from Italy and Alonso de Ojeda Canada. If either the Castro regime collapses or (15 Gbps) the U.S. government lifts its economic embargo,

Panamerican the significant Cuban population would (20 Gbps) certainly have an impact on the regional demand PAC profile. (40 Gbps) To Ecuador SAC To Peru Similarly, if the political situation in Haiti (80 Gbps) ever stabilizes, there is significant pent up demand from the large population for basic Internet connectivity which cannot currently be

Source : Pioneer Consulting, LLC satisfied by the existing international satellite links.

17 Exhibit 4 : Estimated Current Market Share of Demand for North American Since joining Pioneer Connectivity in Leading Caribbean Countries Consulting, Julian Rawle has brought his 31% broad international 40% industry experience and his knowledge of the market to bear on issues facing the submarine fibre optic industry today. He has completed a number of ground-breaking 2% market reports, most recently focusing on Asia 8% Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America, and 6% 13% Eastern Mediterranean regions. He has also led several projects for major corporate clients such as JP Morgan, C2C, , and Puerto Rico Haiti Dominican R ep. Jam aica Cayman Islands O ther General Dynamics. Julian has a first degree from Manchester University, U.K. in Russian Studies and a MBA from Cranfield. New Systems Proposed extending north into the East Caribbean After initially pursuing a 10-year career Already a number of new systems have been archipelago. All of these Caribbean networks are in the oil industry, Julian spent 4 years as proposed to meet growing demand within the designed to carry at least 1 terabit of capacity. Cable & Wireless Representative Director in Caribbean. Island Fibre are proposing to build The common link between these three Moscow, building up a profitable business, “East Caribbean-1” (EC-1) a repeaterless 6-fibre projects is that none has been able to secure based on aggregation of international PSTN pair SDH ring connecting Puerto Rico with funding. Pioneer’s research suggests that there is traffic and provision of managed data services Trinidad via most of the other East Caribbean indeed a need for new capacity along the to multi-nationals. He then accepted a post islands. West Indies Network – I, LLC has proposed routes of these systems but insufficient with Global Marine as International Marketing proposed an almost identical route for “WIN-1”, demand to support all three. Director, Japan. He assisted Global Marine’s a repeaterless 16-fibre SDH ring. Caribe Japanese joint venture partner, NTTWEM, to has proposed a two-phase project for “Calypso- Bottom Line implement a new international marketing 1”, initially connecting Barbados and Trinidad The Caribbean region offers a number of strategy. to the South American continent and then opportunities for investment in telecom

18 infrastructure. However, in keeping with a worldwide trend, the scale of these opportunities is far smaller than the global initiatives which have dominated the market in the recent past. The business models used to take advantage of these opportunities will therefore be different. Private investors are already making a play in the region but the major constraint is funding. Capital availability has been undermined by a loss of confidence in the telecom sector although there are signs that financiers are becoming uncomfortable with the lack of telecom investment in their portfolios. System Suppliers continue to fight shy of vendor financing while they struggle to realign their balance sheets. It seems likely that the first source of capital to come available will be from the major telco’s. C&W has a strong incentive to maintain its cash flow from the region and AT&T has a strong position, particularly in Puerto Rico, a key regional hub. America Movil is also implementing a major expansion and acquisition strategy which may encompass the Spanish-speaking part of the Caribbean. We may therefore see a model similar to the one used for the “ARCOS” project, consisting of private investors taking the upfront risk backed by guarantees from the major telco’s for future capacity purchases. Whichever model is used and whatever the scale of development, there is indeed life in the Caribbean Basin.

19 of Reliability by Design. By this, we mean that the reliability impact of all design decisions, from ReliabilityReliability byby the network architecture level to the equipment component level, is understood in terms of physics rather than merely statistics. Through the use of this Reliability by designdesign –– inin Design principle, we have consistently delivered highly reliable submerged equipment. Since the beginning of the 980-nm repeater program in 1999, we have installed more than eleven practicepractice andand thousand 980-nm amplifier-pairs in approximately 2,200 repeaters, accumulating more than 180 million component service-hours. To date, we have not had a single observed inin thethe fieldfield service-affecting repeater failure or 980-nm laser diode failure in these repeaters. Dr. Barbara Dean and Dr. Jeff Gardner Tyco Telecommunications Laboratories Typical Reliability Requirements for Undersea Systems Undersea telecommunications systems important factors in minimizing outages is The industry metric for the reliability of represent a substantial investment to network ensuring high reliability of the submerged submerged equipment is the expected number owners. Continuous operation of these equipment, so that ship repairs are minimized. of ship repairs over a 25 year system life. The systems ensures an on-going revenue stream Ship repairs represent a considerable cost to the general industry target is fewer than 2 ship and is a pre-requisite for end customer network, since recovery and repair of the system repairs, excluding faults due to external satisfaction and retention. There are is a lengthy and expensive process during which aggression, for a 7,000-km long system with four numerous ways in which the outage risk of the network owner typically purchases fiber pairs. undersea systems can be reduced, including restoration capacity, incurring even greater To interpret what this target means in terms geographically diverse cable routes, judicious expense. The reliability record of a supplier is of submerged equipment reliability, if this 7,000- armoring and burial of cable, and advanced therefore an important metric which guides km system were deployed using a typical network network protection switching protocols. customers in their choice of system supplier. design, each repeater in the network would After proper route planning and network Reliability management at Tyco require a probability of failure of less than 1% architecture engineering, one of the most Telecommunications is driven by the principle over the life of the system.

20 Our Reliability Philosophy Tyco Telecommunications’ Repeater Design lasers. Discrete optical components in the Reliability management at Tyco A repeater consists of one or more amplifier-pairs amplifier include combiners and splitters which Telecommunications includes the implemen- — one for each fiber pair in the system — couple the light from the pump lasers together tation of Reliability by Design across all aspects contained within a strong housing of Beryllium and then divide it evenly between the outgoing of system supply, including robust network Copper which protects the electro-optical and incoming paths, and isolators which prevent architecture, resilient transmission design, and equipment from the undersea environment. downstream reflections from interfering with reliable equipment designs. Network reliability Figure 1 shows a simplified diagram of a repeater amplifier operation. requirements at the highest level are addressed amplifier-pair. Incoming signals are amplified With the exception of the pump lasers and via network architecture and are cascaded down by passing through the coil of erbium-doped their associated controller electronics, all to transmission design requirements, such as the fiber (EDF) which is excited by several pump components of the amplifier-pair are passive. allocation of sufficient system performance margins for system aging over life. Where necessary, the prudent use of redundancy of certain components adds additional reliability and removes single points of failure. Tyco Telecommunications’ transmission design philosophy ensures the resiliency of the system to submerged equipment degradation, including degradation of amplifier power due to component failures in the amplifier pump path, without affecting end-to-end transmission. This goal is achieved by operating the repeater amplifiers in significant gain compression, where the strength of the transmitted optical signal is naturally self-regulating. For example, should one span in a chain of repeaters experience a greater than expected loss, subsequent amplifiers automatically compensate by increasing their gains. In this way, the system performance is more tolerant to submerged equipment degradation. Figure 1: Simplified schematic of a Tyco Telecommunications undersea amplifier-pair.

21 This is important, since passive components in unit, so that multiple simultaneous failures general have fewer failure modes and hence would be needed in order to affect system lower failure rates than active components. For performance. This results in an effective failure components which are directly in the rate which may be many orders of magnitude transmission path, such as the isolator shown in smaller than the individual component failure the figure, demonstration of ultra-high reliability rates. is required, since the failure of any of these components would result in transmission loss. Repeater Reliability Budget The reliability of the parts of the amplifier We have developed a Reliability Budget for the that depend on active components, such as the Tyco Telecommunications 980-nm repeater, pump unit, is dramatically improved by the summarized in Table 1. prudent use of redundancy. Such designs allow These allocations include historical for failure of one or more redundant components estimates for the passive components gained Barbara Dean joined Bell Laboratories in the without failure of the amplifier. Thus, the through more than 15 years of experience in early 1980s after receiving the Ph.D. in amplifier is robust to single failures in the pump designing undersea optical repeaters. Here, 1 FIT Chemical Physics from Ohio State University. At that time, she contributed to the Table 1: Failure rate allocations for repeater components. development and reliability analysis of optical , receivers and passive Component Type Effective FIT Target components for both terrestrial and undersea (95% Confidence)1 applications, authoring several papers on the Pump Lasers 75 concept of functional reliability. Discrete Optical Components 0.1—0.2 During the introduction of optically- Splices 0.05 amplified systems, her engineering team was Integrated Circuits 0.2 responsible for the qualification and Discrete Electronics 0.01—0.2 certification strategy for the first-generation Total Transmission-Affecting Failure 3.9 undersea pump lasers. In the late 1990’s, Rate Allocated for a single Amplifier Pair Barbara joined the undersea system division Repeater Mechanical Integrity 3 (now Tyco Telecommunications) and is currently Managing Director, responsible for Total Transmission-Affecting Failure Rate 6.9 Quality Management Implementation and Allocated for a Repeater containing 1 Amplifier Pair Reliability Management and assessment. 1 Confidence bound of 95% applies where acceleration of the key failure modes is possible.

22 (Failure in Time) represents one failure in one billion device operating hours. As explained above, the pump lasers and their associated control electronics are redundant in this design. Because of this, the failure rate of the components in the pump unit, especially the pump lasers, may not simply be added to the failure rates of other components in the repeater to determine the total failure rate. Rather, pump failures must be treated separately to determine the probability of a given number and distribution of pump laser failures over system life, and thus, the resulting effect on system performance. The failure of a single pump laser in any given amplifier-pair would not generally be cause for a repair. Only in the case of multiple simultaneous pump laser failures, and then only for certain combinations of failures, would an immediate ship repair be necessary. These combinations include, for example, the loss of more than 3 dB of pump power in a single amplifier-pair, or the loss of 3 dB of pump power Figure 2: Measured failure rate at 90% confidence as a function of service device hours without in consecutive amplifier-pairs of a fiber pair in a any observed failures (Chi-Squared Statistical Model). repeater chain. This robustness to certain classes of failures is a benefit of the self-regulating transmission design of these systems. understanding of the underlying device physics. manufacturing processes including: Design As part of this process, potential failure modes Capability Testing, Design Maturity Testing, Verification of Repeater Reliability are identified through theory, exploratory Qualification Testing with and without The philosophy of Reliability by Design dictates testing, and experience with manufacturing and Acceleration Models, and on-going surveillance that, to the extent possible, failure modes in field use of similar devices. of component reliability metrics in both the equipment and components be eliminated by We utilize a thorough regimen of testing suppliers’ and our own manufacturing facilities. the product design through a detailed and surveillance in our product design and Perhaps the most direct data on reliability,

23 however, is gained through actual field reliability devices. The observation of zero failures experience with installed systems. Confidence Measured Failure in any finite time period provides an upper bound Level Rate (FITs) of the failure rate for a given confidence level. The Field Validation 95% 17.2 only way that this upper bound can be reduced to Tyco is a leader in system supply and has more approach the actual failure rate, while maintaining 980-nm amplifier-pairs in operation than anyone 90% 13.0 high statistical confidence, is by accumulating else in the industry. Because of our role as both 60% 5.3 more device hours. a leading system supplier and network operator, Given a few thousand devices in the field for 50% 3.9 we are able to monitor reliability directly through a few years, one could accumulate a few hundred data from the Tyco Global Network (TGN) as well million device hours, which is the time period as through feedback from our system customers. Table 2: Measured failure rate of 980-nm necessary to demonstrate failure rates of 1 FIT or Thus, we are in a unique position to supplement amplifier-pairs based on field data. less. qualification and manufacturing results with actual field experience. observation into a failure rate at a given confidence Experience and Results The large number of devices installed in the level is a well-known statistical problem with an Table 2 shows the failure rates for 980-nm field, combined with continuous use over the long equally well known solution. For the case of 90% amplifier-pairs as measured directly by our field term, makes it possible to infer component failure confidence, Figure 2 shows a graph of the measured data for various levels of statistical confidence. rates even though expected rates are extraordinarily failure rate versus the number of elapsed device To date, we have deployed approximately low. For ultra-high reliability components, the hours without an observed failure. 2,200 repeaters based on 980-nm pump lasers for most likely result is the observation of zero failures The graph illustrates an important principle a total of over 11,000 amplifier-pairs in service. over a long time period. The translation of this in trying to measure the failure rate of ultra- high Given the approximately 180 million amplifier-

24 pair hours accumulated with zero failures observed, we deduce a maximum measured Jeff Gardner re- amplifier-pair failure rate of 17.2 FITs, with 95% ceived Bachelor of confidence. For a 50% confidence level, the Arts and Master of measured failure rate is 3.9 FITs. This result shows Science degrees in REPRINTS that we are close to demonstrating that our Physics in 1986, reliability design target of 3.9 FITs per amplifier- and a Ph.D in pair has been fully proven in the field. Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Conclusion in 1993. His post- System reliability continues to be one of the most doctoral research centered on using semicon- ductor lasers to create and study ultra-cold important metrics by which customers evaluate The following prices are for digital reprints atomic samples as well as experimental stud- potential system suppliers. At Tyco, we have of editorial pages from Submarine accumulated an outstanding reliability record ies of optical amplifiers. He has co-authored a Telecoms Forum magazine, without over several decades and across numerous number of articles in these and other areas of alteration. Page size is 8-1/4" x 11-3/4" technology changes by successfully applying the interest to the optics community. His experi- on 28lb paper stock. Shipping cost is in Reliability by Design philosophy. ence carried over to his research at Tulane addition to reprint price. University, where he was an Assistant Profes- Using this philosophy, we remove potential QUANTITY sor of Physics. Jeff joined the Reliability Man- failure modes from our products by 100 200 500 implementing designs that are based upon the agement group at Tyco Telecommunications knowledge of the failure physics. Rigorous Laboratories in 2001 as a Distinguished Mem- 2-page B&W $40.00 $55.00 $110.00 qualification programs combined with on-going ber of Technical Staff. His primary focus re- 2-page Color $220.00 $300.00 $500.00 supplier surveillance ensure consistent reliability mains on optics, particularly the reliability of of components, while continuous analysis of pump lasers used in Tyco Tel- 4-page B&W $80.00 $110.00 $220.00 field data for indications of failures helps further ecommunications’ undersea amplifiers. 4-page Color $440.00 $600.00 $1000.00 enhance our knowledge of component reliability. The result of this philosophy has been systems accrue more and more operating hours. 6-page B&W $120.00 $165.00 $330.00 impressive — to date, there has not been a single This knowledge will be used to its fullest extent reported traffic-affecting failure of our 980-nm as we consider new technologies, components, 6-page Color $660.00 $900.00 $1500.00 repeaters. and product designs driven by the continued For more information contact Our experience and knowledge of system market need for ultra-high reliability, low [email protected]. reliability is continually expanding as our cost system solutions.

25 New Times- New Strategies: ICT Rising from the Ashes

26th Annual Telecommunications Conference & Exhibition

11-14 January 2004 • Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

New Times - New Strategies, the theme for PTC’04, emphasizes the opportunities that currently exist in the global marketplace for informa- tion and communication technologies (ICTs). While North America and Europe still struggle to reinvigorate their economies, several Asian coun- tries have surged ahead in leadership positions with new technolo- gies. PTC’s annual conference offers a congenial venue to interact with major players in the Asia-Pacific region. The conference has long been the most important event that ties Asia to the Americas and the rest of the world.

Seize this golden opportunity to maximize your total participation in PTC’04: • register early and save • exhibit • sponsor • advertise

Please contact Dolores Fung at +1.808.941.3789, email: [email protected] or visit the PTC’04 website at www.ptc2004.org for more information.

PTC members enjoy 40% discount on the conference fee. If you are not a PTC member and are interested in joining, please email Justin Riel at [email protected]. www.ptc2004.org

26 A UNIQUE EVENT PTC’04 : New Times – New Strategies: ICT Rising from the Ashes by Richard Nickelson, Senior Advisor, Pacific Telecommunications Council The Pacific Telecommunications Council information-age services in the Pacific on Hawaii policy-makers, regulators, technologists, lawyers, (PTC) is an international non-profit, non- as the geographic center and natural meeting scientists, academics and others who share an governmental membership organization with place of the region. interest in the development and beneficial use global membership that was founded in The Council attracts virtually all providers of telecommunications in the region. Honolulu in 1980 to bring together all those and major users of telecoms and information The Council prides itself on being a who have an interest in telecommunications systems and services, as well as manufacturers, “people-centered” organization. The personal in the vast Pacific contacts formed through the Hemisphere. It serves the Council in the amicable and digital informal environment of the through a major annual annual conference and seminars conference, regional are a primary benefit of mem- seminars, a respected bership. Important business and quarterly magazine and a academic relationships are variety of other activities. established. In past years, PTC’s annual Pacific hundreds of millions of dollars Telecommunications worth of contracts resulted from Conference in January has meetings and contacts during become one of the most PTC’s annual conference. important regular events held In many ways, PTC is in Hawaii. Its impact extends unique in the ICTworld. It serves far beyond the participants as a focal point and a meeting who attend, as it serves to place to iron out otherwise focus the attention of the intractable problems and to major providers, operators, Hilton Hawaiian Village transact business. In short, PTC manufacturers and users of is the place to be in the world’s

27 most dynamic growth region in telecoms. (Visit and managing international infrastructure for Richard Nickelson re- www.ptc.org. ) the industry. ceived BEE and MSEE de- PTC’s 26th annual conference will open in grees in electrical engineer- Honolulu on Sunday, January 11th at the Hilton Satellite communications ing from the Georgia Insti- Hawaiian Village in the heart of Waikiki. The The Global VSAT Forum has organized an all-day tute of Technology and has four-day event offers unparallel opportunities to Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Summit 40 years of experience in exhibitors and attendees. that will highlight the opening of the conference international telecommuni- on Sunday, 11 January. Luncheon panels on cations. Starting in 1963, he participated in a Submarine cables Monday and Tuesday will examine the series of pioneering satellite communication ex- Submarine cable systems provide Hawaii’s commercial satellite launch services industry and periments with the U.S. Army Satellite Com- lifelines to the world. Partly because of Hawaii’s the private sector’s role in military satellite com- munications Agency. From 1967 to 1971 he location as a landing and transit place for major munication requirements in the Pacific, was on the staff of the Massachusetts Institute trans-Pacific cables, PTC’s annual conference respectively. Concurrent-session panels will deal of Technology Lincoln Laboratory and contrib- features special sessions on submarine cables and with an analysis of the new reality of the satellite uted to major experiments in digital mobile com- systems. The SubOptic Executive Committee has industry and satellites as the backbone of the munications by satellite. He held several sen- organized a high-level session on Wednesday “intelligent community” in Asia. Tuesday ior positions with the International Telecommu- morning, 14 January, that will examine funding afternoon will feature a high-level satellite CEO nication Union (ITU), Geneva, Switzerland, roundtable organized by the Satellite Industry from 1971 until 1995, including five years as Association and PBI Media, LLC. Technical Coordinator for the ITU/UNDP por- tion of the Satellite Instructional Ex- Other topics periment (SITE) in India. From 1981 until 1995 The conference will include all topics of current he was Senior Counsellor and head of the ITU/ interest in the information and communication CCIR department dealing first with broadcast- technology industries. The ITU Regional Office for ing and later including frequency management Asia and the Pacific is organizing a session that and monitoring. He returned to his native United will include participants from the highly States in 1995, where he is currently Senior successful ITU Youth Forum. Workshops and Advisor at the Pacific Telecommunications panels will focus on a number of country, Council in Honolulu and has also been Editor regional or global issues and means for financing of the Pacific Telecommunications Review needed developments. since 1995. (See http://www.ptc.org/library/ptr/ Students at PTC Alternative sessions will include topic index.html .) tables, round tables, panels and workshops.

28 Education, including distance learning, will be treated in concurrent sessions and pre- conference associated meetings of regional distance-education organizations on Saturday, 10 January. The Federation of Regional Associations (FORA) roundtable on Sunday afternoon, 11 January, will focus on the role of the Internet in the management of regional organizations and how to bridge the digital divide.

Exhibits and other activities PTC’s annual conference exhibits of new technology, products and services for the region will be open from Sunday morning until Tuesday noon. The conference attracts numerous peripheral activities sponsored by PTC members and exhibitors. There are also pre- and post-conference workshops and other activities sponsored by related organizations, as well as PTC executive and committee meeting. Social activities, including the traditional lagoon-side opening Canada; FRED BRIGGS, President, Operations CEO, Global Crossing, USA; OLOF LUNDBERG, reception and the closing reception are always and Technology, MCI, USA; MICHIO FUJISAKI, UK; TADASHI ONODERA, President, KDDI well attended. Member of the Board and CTO, Fujitsu Limited CORPORATION, Japan; VIRGILIO PEÑA, & President, Fujitsu Laboratories Limited, Undersecretary for ICT, Philippines; TADAO Featured speakers Japan; AMBASSADOR DAVID GROSS, U.S. SAITO, Professor, Chuo University and Featured high-level speakers at plenary and Coordinator, International Communications Honorary Professor, Tokyo University, Japan; super sessions include: MICHAEL BINDER, and Information Policy, U.S. Department of NOAH SAMARA, Chairman and CEO, Assistant Deputy Minister – Spectrum, State, USA; SALMA JALIFE, Chair of APEC-TEL WorldSpace Corporation, USA; KENNETH Information Technologies and and Senior Consultant to the Telecom- TOMLINSON, Board of Directors, Telecommunications, Industry Canada, munications Authority, Mexico; JOHN LEGERE, Corporation for Public , USA.

29 has entered into an arrangement with Lloyd’s Register - Fairplay making available, complimentary to subscribers, comprehensive databases of commercial vessels (www.sea-web.org/), ports and companies (www.portguide.com).

In order to qualify for a free trial of these services, contact [email protected].

30 my front porch steps. I have spent countless hours explaining to neighbors how this thin strand of glass, copper & steel runs down the road THOSE OTHER to the beach and then pops over the Atlantic Ocean to the northern coast of France where it once again meanders down a suburban road to a terminal station, amazing they say. SUBMARINE So after driving over Apollo in the morning I head to my office in Toms River NJ, which is about ten miles north of Tuckerton NJ, another UTILITIES major East Coast terminus of transatlantic telecom systems. At the week-end I coach my sons soccer team which plays on a field directly in front of the TAT 14, Gemini & PTAT terminal stations. Cap this with the fact that almost 70% of my company’s revenues were derived from the installation and maintenance of submarine by Bill Wall telecom cable during the period 1998 thru 2001 and the pessimist in you could say that we were in for troubled times from late 2001 onwards. During this somewhat rather slow market for During the winter it reverts to a pleasant submarine telecom cable installers I am beachfront town with a genuine “Hometown Other Marine Markets constantly reminded on a daily basis of the USA” atmosphere. Having started my marine career on a C&W busy times of bygone days. (Actually those Manasquan is also a major terminus for cableship and then spent the next 12 years days were not that long ago). transatlantic submarine cables on the US East traveling the world repairing, laying or burying I reside in Manasquan, New Jersey USA. Coast; numerous systems (PTAT, Tat-14, Gemini, submarine telecom cables I was under the Manasquan is a pleasant beachfront (Seaside for TGN, Apollo etc) come ashore at beach landings impression that these copper & steel (coax) links the Brits!) town on the Jersey Shore about 60 about a mile from my house. I park my car each were the only submarine utility (or at least the miles south of New York City. During the summer night on top of a C&W manhole housing the only one worth worrying about). it is a magnet for hundreds of thousands of Apollo South land cable. As it makes its way from “Bennies”1 from New York and North Jersey who the beach to the terminal station Apollo runs 1 Bennies: a nickname used by Jersey Shore locals for out go “Down the Shore” for their week-end R&R. right along my street a mere twenty feet from of town visitors who come for the “Benefits” of the shore

31 and outfall lines. Detecting minute fluid leaks on high voltage Self Contained Fluid Filled submarine power transmission cables, building INININ FORFORFOR THETHETHE and operating an active tracking system so a towed high pressure water jet sled can guide itself along a 345Kv submarine power transmission LONGLONGLONG HAUL!HAUL!HAUL! cable during a Post Lay Burial Operation, laying, (We also do short and medium haul systems) splicing and burial of 15Kv distribution submarine cables for the US Navy, locating and surveying the terrestrial section of a river crossing pipeline buried over seventy feet deep; all these In 1983 after leaving the staid & starched tasks completed utilizing techniques originally world of the big white wire boats I served my developed for use on submarine telecom cables. penance in the oil field conducting drilling With the current state of the telecom market this support, subsea pipeline surveys and platform period was definitely time well spent. construction with ROVs out of Grand Isle The name Caldwell has been synonymous with Louisiana. (I say penance because you try Stretch Markets submarine cable installation and repair for over 40 years. switching from your own cabin and a mahogany Another learned contributor2 to this publication The Caldwell Group is a marine construction group lined dining salon to 4 to a bunkroom and a steel recently coined the phrase “Stretch” markets in specializing in submarine cable operations worldwide. box called a canteen!) This opened my eyes to an article. This term describes other submarine z Pre-Laid Shore Ends z Cable Burial to 10m other submarine utilities: oil & gas pipelines, utility markets that submarine telecom cable z Route Clearance Depth of Cover flexible umbilicals, power cables etc. It was contractors can turn to during this downturn. z Pre-Lay Grapnel Runs z Cable repairs z Diving/Vessel Services obvious that there was a whole other submarine These stretch markets include offshore pipelines, z Repeaterless Systems z Cable Clearance z HDD Operations infrastructure outside of the submarine telecom submarine power cables, offshore wind farms, world where the skills learned in the submarine river, lake, bay, harbor crossings and regional telecom world could be put to good use. I spent repeaterless systems. I agree with all the stretch the next 15 years helping to build a submarine markets except maybe the offshore pipeline infrastructure service company that although it market which could require too much of an specialized in submarine telecom systems also investment in new and larger equipment to see 1433 Hooper Avenue, Toms River, NJ 08753, USA developed a whole new market of submarine any return within a reasonable amount of time. 732-557-6100 (Tel) 732-341-3078 (Fax) [email protected] utility services to the alternate submarine So discounting the offshore pipeline market most www.caldwellmarine.com markets of energy pipelines, power cables, sewers 2 Thanks Tom Soja

32 of the alternate submarine utilities are within survey. That’s not to say that all inland power coastal or inland waterways. Also apart from a projects have a very brief survey specification just Bill Wall has spent few long distance pipelines most other that most are quite straightforward. Permitting over 30 years in the submarine utilities are relatively short distance regulations are as, if not more, stringent and time sub-sea cable compared to the inter-continental routes of the consuming than the offshore telecom counterparts. industry. Starting at submarine telecom world. This is especially true in the USA if the utility is an British Telecom In North America alone there is a whole interstate line crossing a state border underwater. (then GPO), for a 3- network of submarine power cables both Offshore wind farms, wave turbines and year apprenticeship transmission (High Voltage) and distribution current generators probably represent the largest Wall then spent 12 (Low & Medium Voltage). These cables cross river segment of a new stretch market. A short length of years with Cable & estuaries, bays, harbors; they interconnect submarine power distribution cable must Wireless Marine staff, (now GMSL) where he offshore islands with the mainland and provide interconnect each turbine in a wind farm, then a was very active in the development of cable barrier islands with power without having to longer length of transmission cable would be ready ROV systems. He was a member of the depend on local generation. As a great testament utilized to “Export” the power from the wind farm original Scarab 1 operations team. Wall then to the power industry laboratories and cable ashore. The marine construction applications are spent 18 years at Margus Co. where he was manufacturers a lot of these systems were multi-faceted including civil, electrical and telecom VP Operations. installed during the late 60’s and early 70’s and, disciplines. Also “Merchant” power providers are He has a broad background in sub-sea if untouched by external aggression, most if not now discovering the possible usage of submarine operations and project management including all of those systems are still operating today. The links to deliver their product to market. (Lets hope Shore Ends, ROV operations, Plowing, repair inland submarine utility market suffers from the they don’t saturate the market?) operations. After a short stint with General same threats of external aggression that have Inland submarine pipelines are very Dynamics he is currently the Business plagued the international telecom arena, mainly abundant in any medium to large port city that Development Manager at Caldwell Marine fishing and vessel anchoring. Fishing activities has petroleum refining facilities within its International in New Jersey. are not as big a concern as they are to telecom boundaries. A number of 8" & 12" product operators but vessel anchoring and marine transport lines criss-cross the busy harbor are 20 other submarine utilities crossing the same construction activities can cause heartburn. confines. During a recent project we had to harbor channel and any as-built surveys were 20 On the shorter inland power cable routes dredge material from above a buried, abandoned or more years old. The line had no coating left marine route surveys are not given the attention 12" product pipeline in order to remove that line and as such would not support a tracking signal. that they are in telecom. The changes in so that the owner would be compliant with his In order to ensure that we had the right line and bathymetry in a 5Km bay-crossing route are permit requirement. This pipeline was crossing to guarantee that we dredged material from usually negligible and most burial assessment one of the busiest commercial shipping channels directly above this line we reverted to an old requirements can be taken care of in a diver in the world. Not such an easy task when there telecom technology. A pig was sent through the

33 line pulling a 10 gauge insulated copper wire, a 25hz tone was injected onto the wire and a handheld diver probe was used to pinpoint the line utilizing GPS. The dredge was brought in and eight to ten feet of cover was removed for a Online e-commerce thousand linear feet and the line was recovered and removed without incident. Fiber Requirements MMARKETARKET PPLACELACE A large number of inland infrastructure lines require either Supervisory Control And Data The resource for industry reports, newsletters and cool stuff! Acquisition (SCADA) facilities or straight telecom applications. Either a composite fiber within a power cable or an external submarine fiber cable “Wrapped” around the utility can fill these MARKETPLACE requirements. High fiber count, repeaterless operation is usually the norm. ADDITIONS Summary WANTED Wayne Nielsen recently mentioned Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay in one of his editorials herein and then a reader wrote about duck hunting memories of Tangier Island. I also have memories of Tangier Island but not from Industry data from: hunting or fishing but from locating and repairing the submarine power cable that feeds Tangier Island from the Eastern Shore mainland. When and if this current slump in the submarine telecom industry ever ends then the resourceful, the nimble and the downright lucky will still be around to carry on the good fight, in the meantime carry on stretching! www.subtelforum.com/catalog/

34 ItsItsIts NotNotNot AlAlAllll AAA BedBedBed OfOfOf RosesRosesRoses

Let’s face it, there are a multitude of ways to standard Uraduct® design in that the exposed protect cables and flowlines along the seabed by Scott Griffith metallic banding would also be prone to ranging from trenching to sheathing through abrasion. to rock dumping, etc., but let’s take a step back A solution had to be found that still for a moment and ask why protect them and allowed the flexibility to fit an enhanced what are we protecting them from. Again a protection system in specifically targeted areas, number of reasons spring to mind from but would not compromise the installation time protection from trawling to dropped objects, or costs and would be ecologically friendly. etc.; but what do you do when none of all the CRP commenced a three-year development available solutions suffice? This was the and qualification program specifically aimed at dilemma faced by Petrobras not too long ago. addressing this problem and meeting all of Petrobras, a committed user of Uraduct®, Petrobras’ stringent requirements. a half shell cable protection system, found that The coral would abrade very hard materials in the ultra deep waters of the Campos Basin yet would tear softer more pliable ones, and region (offshore Brazil) there was a common would regenerate around the pipe or cable, occurrence of Coral reefs. leading to an exhaustive supply of abrasive Dead coral, with its razor sharp fingers material; hence the potential for proportionately abrades the outer sheath of unprotected flexible short life spans of the unprotected flowlines and pipes and umbilicals in a matter of months. For umbilicals. several years, Uraduct® has been fitted with its In turning internally to its R&D specially developed abrasion resistant PU shells laboratories and bringing in external expertise and Inconel banding, boasting high tensile in the form of marine biologists, CRP evaluated strengths and suitability for long term sea water numerous materials with varied properties immersion. A concern remained with the testing each variant in specially built abrasive

35 offerings to only a handful of the most suitable Formally working for Dresser for nearly a variations. decade, Scott Griffith joined the CRP While a new more resilient polyurethane Group over six years ago. In his role of had been developed, Inconel 625 remained the Group Marketing Manager Scott is material of choice for its banding system, involved in the day-to-day marketing however if exposed to the coral it would activities of each of the groups divisions – potentially suffer from similar abrasion patterns CRP Group Ltd, OCP Cable Protection as experienced on unprotected umbilicals. Ltd, CRP Group Inc., Emerson & Cuming Around 6 years ago, CRP had developed a Composite Materials, Inc., CRP Balmoral band seal sleeve system for a client who wanted Inc. and several divisional offices in France to encapsulate the seal prior to deployment. This and Norway. concept speared the development of a centres. CRP’s chemists tuned and honed base completely new cable protection system, materials, formulating significantly improved heralded as Uraduct®+, and the new product was polyurethane, which offered the characteristics an evolution from a internationally used by the majority of cable layers over the past 10 needed to provide a long Uraduct® protection system that had been used years. trouble free life. Uraduct®+ was constructed using the new Focus was range of abrasion resistant polyurethane, and simultaneously given to encapsulated the Inconel banding within the the metallic banding main moulding leading to over a 90% reduction system that is used within in the area of banding exposed to the coral. the Uraduct® range of Petrobras recognised that the solution not only cable and flowline met and exceeded all of its stringent criteria, but protection systems. they would also further benefit from potentially Without the aid of reduced installation times as the banding was alchemists, there are only both pre-cut and preinstalled within the factory so many metals that can environment. be used in a strip-banding Uraduct® has now been adopted by configuration, and CRP Petrobras as their first choice system and have had over the years already installed several kilometres on a number tailored its product of projects beyond depths of 1000MSW.

36 500 m

At submarine depths, goes deeper

Nexans was the first For furter information, contact: Nexans Norway AS to manufacture and Telecom: P.O Box 130 Økern, Vegard Larsen N-0509, Oslo Norway install 384 fiber Tel: + 47 22 63 76 47 Tel: + 47 22 63 88 20 submarine cable.Nexans E-mail: vegard-briggar. Fax: + 47 22 63 74 55 has qualified and [email protected] US Contact: installed their URC-1 Oil & Gas: Les Valentine Jon Seip Tel. +1 281 578 6900 cable family for fiber Tel: +47 22 63 88 25 Fax: +1 281 578 6991 counts up to 384 fibers. E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

1500 m exans Global expert in cables 37 and cabling systems A global guide to the latest known locations of the world’s cableships, as at NOVEMBER 2003.

SAILING DETAILS (or last known location) Vessel Name Built Parent Company GT Speed Sailed Date Port Country Arcos 2002 BOHLEN & DOYEN 3790 0 Singapore Republic of Singapore Asean Explorer 2002 SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS 14988 14.5 Singapore Republic of Singapore Asean Restorer 1994 SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS 11156 16 24/09/03 Songkhla Thailand C.S.Wave Mercury 1982 GLOBAL MARINE SYSTEMS 10105 16 25/09/03 Kobe Japan Cable Innovator 1995 GLOBAL MARINE SYSTEMS 14277 11 10/09/03 Vigo Spain

Cable Protector 2002 SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2935 0 Singapore Republic of Singapore Discovery 1990 FRIARY OCEAN 8248 12 21/09/03 Stavanger Norway Elektron 1969 STATNETT ENTREPENOR 1628 0 18/09/03 Norrkoping Sweden Etisalat 1990 EMIRATES TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2221 13 27/09/03 Fujairah Anch. United Arab Emirates Giulio Verne 1983 V. SHIPS GROUP 10617 10 27/09/03 Panama Canal Panama Havila Skagerrak 1976 HAVILA SHIPPING 7172 10 19/09/03 Forsmark Sweden Ile de Batz 2001 NOT APPLICABLE 13973 15.4 Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates KDD Pacific Link 1993 TOKYO LEASE 7960 13 26/09/03 Hakata Japan Leon Thevenin 1983 FRANCE TELECOM 4845 15 25/09/03 Las Palmas Canary Islands

38 SAILING DETAILS (or last known location) Vessel Name Built Parent Company GT Speed Sailed Date Port Country

Lodbrog 1985 ALCATEL SUBMARINE NETWORKS 10243 14.5 19/09/03 Bristol United Kingdom Maersk Defender 1996 MOLLER A.P. 5746 16 Calais France Maersk Recorder 2000 MOLLER A.P. 6292 14 Falmouth United Kingdom Maersk Reliance 2001 MOLLER A.P. 6292 14 15/09/03 Montevideo Uruguay Maersk Responder 2000 MOLLER A.P. 6292 14 11/09/03 Curacao Netherlands Antilles Miss Clementine 1996 BROOKLYN SHIPPING 3637 9 Singapore Republic of Singapore Miss Marie 1998 BROOKLYN SHIPPING 3639 0 12/09/03 Jebel Ali United Arab Emirates Nordkabel 1969 NOT APPLICABLE 395 10 09/09/03 Harstad Norway Oceanic Pearl 1997 FISHER & SONS 7429 13.5 Barrow-in-Furness United Kingdom Pertinacia 2003 NOT APPLICABLE 12100 14 06/09/03 Dover Strait United Kingdom Pleijel 1972 1650 11 03/10/03 Stockholm Sweden Provider I 1978 MARINE SURVEY 10493 14 27/09/03 Dover Strait United Kingdom Segero 1998 KOREA SUBMARINE TELECOM 8323 15 24/09/03 Okpo Republic of Korea Teneo 1992 TRANSOCEANIC CABLE SHIP 3051 14.5 01/10/03 Valencia Spain Thalis 1961 GREECE (GOVT.) 1025 11 19/09/03 Kalamata Greece Tyco Decisive 2002 NOT APPLICABLE 12184 13.9 07/09/03 Port Everglades United States of America Tyco Durable 2002 NOT APPLICABLE 12130 13.9 25/09/03 Astoria United States of America Wave Sentinel 1995 GLOBAL MARINE SYSTEMS 12330 18.25 28/09/03 Dover Strait United Kingdom Wave Venture 1982 GLOBAL MARINE SYSTEMS 10076 16 Singapore Republic of Singapore

39 wfnstrategies

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40 Does this Alcatel statement announce something else? Some other form of restructuring? It would make a lot of sense! The important point for the supplier Letter to industry is that the future market will probably be modest, nothing to compare with the last years of the last century! Something like 1 or 2 billion dollars a year globally, i.e. 50,000 kms of system length a year! Not enough for so many a friend players, and more importantly, not enough for dedicated units. We may see tomorrow the big telecom equipment suppliers (Alcatel, NEC, Fujitsu and why not , , etc.) providing the “Network electronic and software”, and other companies providing the “submerged plant” portion. Two very different set of skills! The from Jean Devos Japanese model, more adapted to the low tide period could finally prevail. My friend, as you know perfectly, So, my dear friend, yes, there is clearly My Dear Friend, everything takes time, even in our fast moving going to be a future submarine cable market I was on my way to tell you in this letter world! It takes time to admit the obvious, like a thanks to the wide band Internet. It will still that the submarine cable activity may have seen virtually dead market! When you have benefited takes several years before the thick traditional now the worse, and that one can hope that for years of the beauty of a booming and then routes will need new investment, but in the things will start to catch up somewhat. We have profitable activity, when such an activity is at meantime, India and China are clearly emerging, many signs of this. But today I am reading in the heart of your company culture and capability, and represent more than two billion inhabitants! my favourite economy newspaper that Alcatel I can understand that it is painful and time But this does not contradict the idea that chairman told the analysts “the submarine cable consuming to finally accept the reality. But the the supplier industry needs some restructuring. market is virtually dead,” and that “further costs market has been clearly dead for nearly 3 years reduction needs to be achieved in this sector.” now, and it is hard to believe that costs have not Jean Devos Can we reconcile both statements? yet been cut up to the rock bottom! President AXIOM.

41 DiaryDiaryDiary FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITIONS 17-20 November 2003 Shallow Survey 2003, Sydney, Australia, www.dsto.defence.gov.au/corporate/conferences/swsurvey/

24-26 November 2003 Hydro 2003: 4th Australasian Hydrographic Symposium, Christchurch, New Zealand, www.hydrographicsociety.org.nz/conference.htm

11-14 January 2004 Pacific Telecom Conference 2004, Honolulu, Hawaii USA. www.ptc.org/ptc2004

17-19 February 2004 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

6-9 April 2004 International Cable Protection Committee Plenary, Southern France, www.iscpc.org

3-6 May 2004 Offshore Technology Conference 2004, Houston, Texas USA, www.otcnet.org/2004/

15-18 June 2004 CommunicAsia 2004, Singapore, www.communicasia.com

24-27 August 2004 Offshore Northern Seas 2004, Stavanger, Norway, www.ons.no/

14-16 September 2004 Offshore Communications 2004, Houston, Texas USA, www.offshorecoms.com

21-23 September 2004 Submarine Networks World 2004, Singapore, www.carriersworld.com

10-15 October 2004 SEG International Exposition & 74th Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado USA, www.seg.org/meetings/calendar/

2-4 November 2004 Hydro4, Galway, Ireland, www.hydrographicsociety.org

9-12 November 2004 Oceans 2004 MTS/IEEE, Kobe, Japan, www.oceans-technoocean2004.com

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