In This Issue: 11 Years All Optical Submarine Network Upgrades Of

 66 n o v Voice 2012 of the ISSN 1948-3031 Industry

System Upgrades Edition In This Issue: 11 Years All Optical Submarine Network Upgrades of

Upgrading Cables Systems? More Possibilities That You Originally Think Of! Excellence

Reach, Reliability And Return On Investment: The 3R’s To Optimal Subsea Architecture Statistics

Issue Issue Issue #64 Issue #3 #63 #2 Released Released Issue Released Released #65 Released

2 ISSN No. 1948-3031

PUBLISHER: Wayne Nielsen MANAGING EDITOR: Kevin G. Summers ovember in America is the month Forum brand which we will be rolling out we celebrate Thanksgiving. It during the course of the year, and which CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Stewart Ash, is also the month SubTel Forum we believe will further enhance your James Barton, Bertrand Clesca, Dr Herve Fevrier, N Stephen Jarvis, Brian Lavallée, Pete LeHardy, celebrates our anniversary of existence, utility and enjoyment. We’re going to kick Vinay Rathore, Dr. Joerg Schwartz that now being 11 years going strong. it up a level or two, and think you will like the developments . And as always, it will Submarine Telecoms Forum magazine is When Ted and I established our little be done at no cost to our readers. published bimonthly by Submarine Telecoms magazine in 2001, our hope was to get Forum, Inc., and is an independent commercial enough interest to keep it going for a We will do so with two key founding publication, serving as a freely accessible forum for professionals in industries connected while. We had a list of contacts, an AOL principles always in mind, which annually with submarine optical fiber technologies and email address and a song in our heart; the I reaffirm to you, our readers: techniques. Submarine Telecoms Forum may hardest part was fooling the email system not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, to let us send out 250 or so at a time. »» That we will provide a wide range of in whole or in part, without the permission of ideas and issues; the publishers. When we had our first “positive” response we celebrated; when we saw 1,000 people »» That we will seek to incite, entertain Liability: while every care is taken in and provoke in a positive manner. preparation of this publication, the publishers download an issue we were ecstatic. Little cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of steps moving in a positive direction. So here’s to you, our readers and the information herein, or any errors which may occur in advertising or editorial content, In 2012, our 10th year of operation, we saw supporters. or any consequence arising from any errors some dramatic changes to the dynamics. Happy Anniversary and in the spirit of or omissions, and the editor reserves the right With the addition of the Cable Almanac and to edit any advertising or editorial material Thanksgiving, thank you as always for Industry Report, we realized downloads in submitted for publication. honoring us with your interest. the thousands, well above those typically Contributions are welcomed. Please forward to seen. In the Spring alone we watched as the Managing Editor at [email protected]. the Cable Almanac peaked above 125,000 downloads – Wow! As if the industry had Submarine Telecoms Forum, Inc. 21495 Ridgetop Circle, Suite 201 embraced what we envisioned, and it was Sterling, Virginia 20166, USA humbling as well as electric for all of us. subtelforum.com With 2013 beginning soon, our 12th year, 3 Copyright © 2012 Submarine Telecoms Forum, Inc. we have a few enhancements to the SubTel In This Issue...

Exordium 3 Phoenix Participates In 30 Advertiser Index 50 Wayne Nielsen Underwater Search For Amelia Earhart’s Plane Coda 51 News Now 5 Pete LeHardy Kevin G. Summers

Reach, Reliability And Return Notes on The Upgrade Market 9 33 Stephen Jarvis On Investment: The 3R’s To Optimal Subsea Architecture All Optical Submarine Network 14 Vinay Rathore Upgrades Brian Lavallée Satellite Backhaul: The Fibre 41 Alternative Upgrading Cables Systems? 22 James Barton More Possibilities That You Originally Think of! Bertrand Clesca, Dr Herve Fevrier Back Reflection 45 & Dr. Joerg Schwartz Stewart Ash

Conferences 49

4 News Now  Alcatel mulling sale of submarine, enterprise units-sources  Emerald Networks Announces a Strategic Investment By Storage Engine, Inc.  American Samoa eyes second submarine fibre cable  Firms go through hell and high water in GBI Connects The  APTelecom Appointed as SACS - South Atlantic Cable Red Sea To Milan With Advanced 100G Technology From System (Angola - Brazil Cable) Pre-Sales Manager for Xtera International Network Development  Globe lays submarine cable to Boracay  Arctic Fibre Applies For Canadian Landing Licence  Groups urge government to revise submarine cable  Conroy mulls Government-funded subsea fibre link  Huawei, ZTE, and the Slippery Slope of Excusing  Cross River Fiber Partners With Telx For Network Access Protectionism on National Security Grounds Services  HYLAS 2 Gateway at Cyta Kim Dotcom to reboot NZ  Cross River Fiber Supports Dark Fiber Connectivity Within submarine cable and offer free broadband the Healthcare Vertical, Extending Its New Jersey Backbone Reach By 50+ Miles  ICPC: Call For Papers  Cyprus Telecommunications Authority Deploys Infinera  Lat Am submarine network upgrades to 40G DTN-X Platform for 100G Mediterranean Subsea Network  Mitsubishi Electric Upgrades IMEWE Submarine Cable  eFive Telecoms Signs Up Undersea Cable Supplier System between India, Middle East and Western Europe in Record Time  MTN Announces Commercial LTE Plans  SubOptic 2013 Call for Papers: 164 Submissions Received!  MTN to bring LTE to 3 SA cities  SubOptic 2013 Early Bird Registration Now Available  Namibia: Titanic Battle Looming in Telecom Sector  T-Mobile: New CEO Legere Faces Promising Problems  NBN to build undersea cable to US if prices don NTC plans  Tata Communications appoints Rangu Salgame as Chief new submarine cable Executive Officer of Growth Ventures  Prysmian SpA : Prysmian to develop first-ever high-voltage  Telefonica selects Infinera DTN-X platform for 100G SAm-1 submarine power link in Turkey to connect Asia and Europe submarine cable upgrade across the Dardanelles strait  The 2012 Presidential Election and Its Future Impact on  Radius Oceanic Communications and Cyta announce Telecommunications and Media Policy Eastern Mediterranean cooperation through the POSEIDON  TRAI to specify charges for Cable Landing Stations System  Undersea cable support  Reliance Globalcom may acquire optical network gear from US company Ciena  Vietnam telcos to join in Asian undersea Internet cable  Sea Fibre Networks Launch the Staffordshire Gateway project  Vodafone Sees 500 Million Pounds in Costs From C&W Deal  Seaborn Networks signs contract with Alcatel-Lucent to build US-Brazil submarine cable network  WARCIP Updates on ACE Fibre Optic Project  Shrinking Arctic ice and a golden fibre-optic opportunity  Zanzibar Gets 100 MW Cable Link To Mainland  Silent Fibre-optic War Rages  Slattery SMD and BORD Sign Joint Venture  Submarine Cable Almanac - Issue 4  Submarine cable outage hits Kiwi internet 494.8% map and surrounding rectangle locked

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PUNTA ARENAS For reasons of clarity and scale, the following systems do not appear on this map ASEAN (BRUNEI - MALAYSIA - PHILIPPINES) DENMARK - NORWAY-6 HONTAI-2 SPAIN - MOROCCO ASEAN (MALAYSIA - THAILAND) DENMARK - POLAND-2 IBERIAN FESTOON (VIGO - PORTO) SWEDEN - FINLAND (Turku/Kista) (FINNET) ASEAN (SINGAPORE - BRUNEI) DENMARK - SWEDEN-1 IBERIAN FESTOON (FARO - HUELVA) SWEDEN - FINLAND (Umea/Vaasa) (FINNET) ASIA - AMERICA NETWORK (AAN) DENMARK - SWEDEN-15 ITALY - LIBYA TAINO - CARIB BAHAMAS-2 DENMARK - SWEDEN-16 ITALY - MALTA Tangerine - (UK - BELGIUM) BALTIC CABLE SYSTEM E-W (SWEDEN - LITHUANIA) DENMARK - SWEDEN-18 ITALY - TUNISIA-1 TASMAN-3 BALTIC CABLE SYSTEM North I (SWEDEN - FINLAND) EAST ASIA CROSSING (EAC) - PHASE 2 KATTEGAT-1 THAILAND - VIETNAM - HONG KONG (T-V-H) BERYTAR (BEIRUT - SAIDA) EAST ASIA CROSSING (EAC) - PHASE 1 MALAYSIA THAILAND EAST TRANS - CASPIAN LINK (TCL) Submarin e BERYTAR (LEBANON - SYRIA) ESAT I MALAYSIA THAILAND WEST TyCom Global Network - Baltic BERYTAR (TRIPOLI - BEIRUT) ESAT II MED Nautilus 1 (MN1) TyCom Global Network - Eastern Med BOTHNIA (SWEDEN - FINLAND) EUROTUNNEL North Asia Cable System TyCom Global Network - Northern Europe BRITISH TELECOM - TELECOM EIREANN-1 FCI -ONE NorSea Com-1 TyCom Global Network - Western Europe CELTIC FINLAND - ESTONIA (SF-ES 2) PANDAN - PULAU BUKOM TyCom Global Network - Western Med CIRCE - (LONDON-AMSTERDAM) FINLAND - SWEDEN (SF-S 4) PAN EUROPEAN CROSSING UAE - IRAN CIRCE - (LONDON-PARIS) FINLAND - SWEDEN (SF-S 5) PAN EUROPEAN CROSSING - IRISH RING UK - BELGIUM-5 Telecoms CONCERTO#1 GERMANY - SWEDEN-4 PANGEA-1 - Baltic Ring UK - BELGIUM-6 CROATIA - ITALY-1 GERMANY - SWEDEN-5 PANGEA-1 - North Sea (South) UK - FRANCE-3 CROATIA DOMESTIC (RIJEKA - ZADAR - SPLIT) GREECE - MONTENEGRO REMBRANDT UK - FRANCE-4 Danica North / South HERMES-1 (UK - BELGIUM) BALTIC CABLE SYSTEM North II (Finland - Russia) UK - FRANCE-5 DENMARK - GERMANY-1 (ESBJERG - DUNE) HERMES-2 (UK - NETHERLANDS) SEACN (South East Asia Cable Network) UK - GERMANY-5 T Soja & Associates, Inc. DENMARK - GERMANY-2 Hong Kong - Philippines - Taiwan Cable System (HPT) SEACN (South East Asia Cable Network) UK - NETHERLANDS-12 FORUM DENMARK - NORWAY-5 HONG KONG - JAPAN - KOREA (H-J-K) Sea-Van One UK - NETHERLANDS-14 The Leader in Global Telecom Market Analysis www.subtelforum.com

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8 2013 Release Timeline Notes on The Upgrade Market

9 Stephen Jarvis he ongoing march of technology has case with newer optical systems, beyond became available roughly 20 years ago, always been an important part of capacity. This is opposed to completely they had dealt in a few forms of upgrades. Tthe submarine cable industry. When laying new cable with better technology to pertinent technology becomes available replace the old model. It wasn’t until 2009, however, that the it redefines many different aspects of the newest kind of upgrade became available, industry. Possibly the most important of The use of upgrades to improve a system according to Olivier Courtois, Alcatel- which has been the creation of optical cable has become growingly popular. This has Lucent system product line manager. This which expectations of available capacity. given rise to a number of companies that is thanks to developments in coherent either can or even specialize in providing detection, which has allowed possible One of the most recent technologies that upgrades. One such company is Alcatel- upgrades to go up to or beyond 100 have changed not only the equipment Lucent. gigabits. It isn’t always easy though. used but the way business is done has been capacity upgrades. For the first “We’ve sold upgrades since the optical “You can squeeze more out of a system time systems can be improved either to era,” said Norma Spruce, ASN Marcom design,” said Spruce. “But only if you meet their full design capacity or, in the Director. She explained that since optical know what you’re doing.” The process

As observed by a number of publications and Press Releases, the number of cable systems that are being upgraded is clearly on the rise. One of the major factors contributing to the new popularity of upgrading an older system is the low price point. Rather than go through the ordeal of implementing a new system, owners are choosing to get a few more years of life out of their already existing systems with an upgrade.

10 of increasing capacity can change from market. It creates competition among for money to be made that otherwise system to system. The age, design, and a system suppliers with this new market for wouldn’t be. number of other factors dictate how much the repeat business with owners. It even of an increase, how expensive it may be, creates possibilities for owners to request New technology can always have or even if it can be done at all. Sometimes designs that plan future upgrades into surprising effects and always build on nothing can be done but increase to its them. each other. 20 years ago, companies ultimate capacity as dictated by the design. began laying optic cable, creating new The new options and facets provided by possibilities for capacity and changing The effect of upgrades on the market is this new market have become increasingly the market in doing so. Now, the growth an even more far reaching issue. In the important. The submarine cable industry, of the relatively new upgrade market lasting economic difficulty of the last five like so many others, is highly dependent on has changed the game again, giving cost years, a more cost effective option that growth. System suppliers in particular are effective alternatives for owners. It can completely replacing the cable of a city to threatened when there aren’t new systems only be wondered what next big shift will increase capacity opens more than a few being regularly created. The movement in be thanks to this one. doors. It allows for a new, specialized the industry created by upgrades allows

As the popularity of upgrading systems jumps and the demand for capacity increases, naturally the market will respond with improved and cheaper technology. In 2009, the upgrades seen were majorly 10G upgrades, whereas now in 2012, you will find that 100G is the new norm. As the upgrade market heats up, competition will drive cheaper and faster upgrade technology.

11 Upgrades may utilize 10Gb/s, 40Gb/s or 100Gb/s transmission technology. 10Gb/s transponders may be used when low cost or rapid deployment is required; typically from 1 to 1 ½ times the original design Stephen Jarvis is a capacity may be achieved; for example a system designed for 32 waves per fiber pair might be expanded freelance writer in the to 40 or 48 waves. 40Gb/s upgrades have been offered for several years, but are rapidly being overtaken Washington D.C. area. by 100Gb/s upgrades. 40Gb/s upgrades may deliver 2 to 2 ½ times the original design capacity; it is not He has published articles usually possible to replace each 10Gb/s channel with a 40Gb/s channel, thus the improvement factor is and done editorial work less than 4. 100Gb/s upgrades have recently been announced, with the potential to achieve 4 times the with several publications original design capacity on some wet plant. including Submarine Telecoms Forum. Also, he has been a speaker for the Popular Owners may choose from these solutions to meet their specific needs: maximizing capacity, rapid deployment, Culture Association / American Culture lowest cost or some combination. The exact results depend on amplifier bandwidth, equalization, the Association National Conference. chromatic dispersion map, and other factors. A typical upgrade will involve tests to characterize a fiber pair followed by trials of the equipment before a supplier commitment is made. Many upgrade designs now permit new channels to be added alongside existing channels, avoiding the need to remove existing terminal equipment from service.

(Excerpts from Submarine Cable Industry Report, Issue 1, July 2012)

With new and better technology, competition will begin creeping in from unexpected places. Over the last few years, the upgrade market has almost wholly been dominated by Infinera and Xtera. Traditionally, this industry is dominated by installers, such as TE Subcom and Alcatel Lucent; however this new emerging market seems to be almost completely driven by faces relatively new to the submarine world.

12 submarine cable CLICK ISSUE 4 HERE TO ALMANAC DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE NOW All Optical Submarine Network Upgrades

14 Brian Lavallée lthough demand for inter- transmission technologies over proprietary standard for upgrading submarine continental bandwidth continues wet plants. The advent of coherent-based and terrestrial network capacities. A Ato grow at a significant rate transmission technology, initially targeted complimentary optical network technology worldwide, intensified competition has for long distance terrestrial networks, has initially developed for terrestrial networks resulted in significant price erosion. This eliminated the need to deploy expensive can also be leveraged. means global network operators must submarine network-specific transponders. find ways to cost-effectively upgrade their Each submarine cable system was custom- Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop existing wet plants while cost-reducing built with design goals to maximize Multiplexer (ROADM) them at the same time. Increasing channel performance and reach. This led to each The ROADM is another optical technology rates from 10 Gb/s to 40 Gb/s and 100 submarine cable system inheriting a initially developed for terrestrial networks Gb/s, using coherent-based transmission unique optical performance “personality”, that has found its way into the Cable technology, is now the preferred method which greatly differed from terrestrial Landing Station (CLS). As wholesaling for increasing submarine network optical line systems. wavelengths increasingly becomes the capacity. New submarine cables will still industry practice for bandwidth purchases be deployed for other reasons though, such The same coherent-based transmission over global networks, keeping traffic as increasing route diversity or providing technology can now be deployed within the optical domain from Point of ultra low latency connectivity. Upgrading overland and undersea, even over very Presence (PoP) to PoP, meaning no optical- existing submarine cables via channel long transoceanic routes. Although each electrical-optical (OEO) conversion stages, upgrades eliminates or at least defers submarine cable system has its own unique enabled far more scalable, cost-effective, the substantial capital investment and performance personality, coherent-based and simpler networks to own and associated risks related to time-consuming transmission technology can still be used, operate making it a logical design choice new cable builds. Although increasing albeit to varying degrees, which is further for network planners, where possible. channel rates does offer economies of scale testament to the flexibility and robustness Wavelengths should never be converted to lower the cost per transported bit, there of this revolutionary technology. The back into the electrical domain unless sub- are other innovative options available to industry has adopted coherent-based wavelength access is required, such as for global network designers to lower network transmission technology as the de facto costs even further, such as ROADMs and “optical bypass” configurations. Coherent-Based Transmission Technology

For decades, optical transmission technologies deployed over terrestrial networks were incapable of achieving distances associated with transoceanic networks. This meant submarine cable operators had little choice but to deploy costly submarine network-specific 15 Figure 1: Traditional Cable Landing Station Network Design grooming and/or switching purposes, or when limited by available link budgets. Avoiding OEO stages minimizes latency, power/space requirements, network complexity, and most importantly, network costs. When wavelengths are the wholesale “currency” of the global Figure 2: All-Optical Cable Landing Station Network Design network, they should only be converted back into the electrical domain at the very networks, as well as most of the world’s backhaul network segments from CLS end points of the network link, which is terrestrial networks, with the notable to inland PoP through the elimination of typically the inland PoP, such as a data exception of the United States, which uses Terrestrial Line Terminating Equipment center. ROADMs allow wavelengths SONET. This means submarine networks (TLTE) transponders that traditionally coming from the wet plant into the CLS to that interconnect SONET-based networks performed signal regeneration, as be switched while remaining in the optical to SDH-based networks require SDH/ illustrated in Figure 1. ROADMs used in domain to the inland PoP or forwarded to SONET protocol conversion, meaning this “optical bypass” configuration allow the next CLS as “express wavelengths”. OEO stages are required. Optical Transport wavelengths that are coming from the wet Since the wavelengths remain in the Network (OTN) is a global standard that plant to be switched, while remaining in optical domain for the duration of can be used over submarine and terrestrial the optical domain, back to the inland PoP. their travel, and utilize coherent-based networks to replace SONET and SDH to The submarine networking community is optical transmission technology, they are help erase the need for the traditional understandably a very conservative group inherently more secure, as they eliminate submarine-terrestrial demarcation point, considering their unique and hostile vulnerable OEO stages. also referred to as the “border” between these two networks. Combining coherent- operating environment coupled with Transmission and Switching based transmission with OTN allows carrying nearly 100% of the world’s inter- Technology Convergence global network operators to further continental electronic communications simplify PoP-to-PoP network designs, traffic. Fortunately, “optical bypass” is not Over time, connecting standards-based which significantly reduces costs. new as it leverages the same technology terrestrial networks to proprietary successfully deployed over terrestrial submarine networks led to a distinct Optical Bypass metro and core networks for close to a network demarcation point, as shown in decade and has proven itself in the real Figure 1, which is typically located in the The increased reach afforded by coherent- world as a highly reliable solution. The CLS. Although having served the telecom based transmission technology allows minimization of OEO stages in an end-to- industry well for decades, this demarcation operators to combine their submarine end network also increases reliability. point can be significantly optimized network segments along with their by leveraging the latest in technology terrestrial backhaul network segments from Express Wavelengths convergence, which until recently was into a single all-optical route from PoP-to- Submarine networks incorporating simply not possible. SDH is the standard PoP. This leads to significantly simplified “express wavelengths” also benefit of choice in the world’s submarine network designs, as shown in Figure 2, 16 which illustrates optimized terrestrial from optical bypass network designs, as shown in Figure 3. Express wavelength transponder pairs in back-to-back configurations, previously required for signal regeneration to be able to meet reach targets, are eliminated. This is due to coherent-based transmission technology offering increased reach and being compatible with both wet and dry plants. Since a ROADM is by definition reconfigurable, wavelengths can now be dropped and/or expressed from any remote location, such as the Network Operations Center (NOC). Given the long distances associated with global networks, eliminating the need to send out trained personnel to far off remote locations to manually reconfigure wavelengths using error-prone manual methods, such is the case when using patch panels, is a highly Figure 4: Terrestrial Backhaul and Optical Bypass coveted benefit of ROADMs. All Optical Terrestrial Backhaul terrestrial backhaul network segments at one PoP can remain in the optical domain Networks each end to connect the CLS to the inland all the way to the inland PoP at the other PoP. As a result of the increased reach end of the link. Switching wavelengths to Typical PoP-to-PoP network links that afforded by coherent-based transmission the inland PoP is performed by a ROADM, traverse a submarine network have technology, wavelengths originating in as shown in Figure 3. This means terrestrial backhaul transponders are eliminated in most cases. All Optical Terrestrial Backhaul Protection

For terrestrial backhaul networks with alternative routes available for protection purposes, additional Wavelength Selective Switches (WSS), the building blocks of ROADMs, can be added to accomplish network protection, while still remaining in the all optical domain, as shown in Figure 17 Figure 3: Express Wavelengths and Optical Bypass 5. This ensures that unnecessary OEO stages are avoided on protected terrestrial possible. This is not a new goal however, Sea Change in Global Network Designs backhaul routes. As most network traffic is as it has been sought after in terrestrial packet-based, coupled with the emergence networks for over a decade. What has The all-optical CLS fully leverages the of 100 Gb/s ports on core routers/switches, changed in recent years is that optical convergence of optical networking keeping traffic in the optical domain from transmission and switching technologies technologies. As bandwidth demand inland data center to inland data center, finally exist that allows this network growth and price erosion continues for whenever and wherever possible, is a most design goal to finally be achieved for the foreseeable, network operators must efficient transport network design that is the first time over submarine networks. challenge their current mindset related secure, offers lower latency, and is more A significant benefit of remaining in the to a global network consisting of distinct reliable, all of which are critical to cloud- optical domain from end-to-end is that individual submarine and terrestrial based service offerings. latency, a key design requirement in most network segments, if they are to fully networks today, is significantly lowered leverage technology convergence and The All-Optical Cable Landing Station since latency incurred over multiple the significant benefits afforded. Just as unnecessary OEO stages is eliminated. global networks have erased international Maintaining data transport within political borders, the all-optical cable the optical domain from end-to-end, The all-optical CLS is evidence that the distinction between what is a submarine landing station eliminates the border whenever or wherever possible, is the goal between submarine and terrestrial of clever network operators wanting the network and a terrestrial network is rapidly blurring. networks, which benefits end users and most efficient and cost-effective network network operators alike. Brian Lavallée is the Director responsible for Global Network Solutions at Ciena.

18 Figure 5: All Optical Terrestrial Backhaul Protection and Optical Bypass Regulatory Advisory

FCC INITIATES RULEMAKING TO and the foreign carrier/investor’s home and related liberalizing rules in 1997. For REFORM MARKET-ENTRY RULES FOR market using undersea-cable or satellite carriers and investors from WTO-member INVESTORS AND CARRIERS FROM capacity, (b) obtain a cable landing license to countries, the FCC replaced the ECO test NON-WTO-MEMBER COUNTRIES land an undersea cable in the United States with a presumption that market entry by or its territories, or (c) acquire an affiliation the foreign investor/carrier would serve On October 11, 2012, the U.S. Federal (cross-ownership of greater than 25 percent) the public interest. To take advantage of the Communications Commission (“FCC”) with a licensed U.S. carrier. Under the ECO presumption, a foreign carrier or investor issued a notice of proposed rulemaking test, the foreign carrier or investor must make need only show that its home country or (“NPRM”) in IB Docket No. 12-229 extensive legal and factual submissions to market is an actual (not prospective) WTO- proposing to simplify or eliminate entirely demonstrate that its home market: provides member country. It need not show that its the burdensome market-entry rules that effective opportunities to compete in that home country or market has made specific currently apply to carriers and investors country’s market for the service which the commitments in basic telecommunications from countries that are not members of foreign carrier or investor seeks to provide under the GATS. For countries outside the the World Trade Organization (“WTO”). in the United States; provides reasonable WTO, however, their investors and carriers The FCC’s current rules impose significant and nondiscriminatory charges, terms, and must still complete the time-consuming and delays and expenses on such carriers and conditions for interconnection to a foreign expensive process of satisfying the FCC’s investors seeking access to the U.S. market carrier’s domestic facilities; provides ECO test. In the most recent cases of carriers and on U.S. carriers seeking to invest in competitive safeguards; provides an seeking to satisfy the ECO test, it took the foreign carriers operating in non-WTO- effective regulatory framework to develop, FCC more than a year to act. member countries. The proposed reforms implement and enforce legal requirements, would do away with these burdens in whole interconnection arrangements, and other Many Smaller Countries Would Benefit or in part and benefit non-WTO members, safeguards. from Reform. Consequently, the FCC’s particularly small island nations, though proposals to reform or eliminate the ECO test the reforms are not as ambitious as some Disparate Treatment After the WTO Deal. entirely would greatly benefit investors and had hoped. Comments will be due within In 1997 (and effective from February 5, carriers from non-WTO-member countries. 30 days of publication of the NPRM in the 1998), an initial sixty-nine countries made Although the list has grown smaller since Federal Register, which has not yet occurred. commitments to liberalize trade in basic 1997, a considerable number of countries telecommunications services under the remain outside the WTO. These include (by The ECO Test. In 1995, the FCC began WTO General Agreement on Trade in region) the following: requiring that a carrier or investor make Services (“GATS”). (These commitments a showing of effective competitive are sometimes known as the WTO Basic »» Pacific: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, opportunities (the “ECO test”) before it Telecommunications Agreement.) To could (a) obtain a Section 214 authorization Marshall Islands, Nauru, implement U.S. GATS commitments in Niue, Palau, Tokelau, and Tuvalu. to provide international telecommunications basic telecommunications services, the services directly between the United States 19 FCC adopted the Foreign Participation Order »» Africa: Algeria*, Comoros*, the detailed ECO Test requirements.” The Channel Islands and Tokelau) are expressly Equatorial Guinea*, Eritrea, FCC therefore proposes to eliminate the excluded from the sovereign nations’ WTO Ethiopia*, Liberia*, Libya*, São Tomé ECO test and instead analyze on a case- commitments. In some cases, WTO status and Príncipe*, Seychelles*, Somalia, by-case basis as part of its public interest is simply not clear. In fact, sometimes the South Sudan, and Sudan*. determination “whether U.S. carriers are United States disagrees with its trading experiencing competitive problems in that partners regarding the WTO status of »» Middle East and Central Asia: market, and whether the public interest dependent territories. The U.S. Government Afghanistan*, Azerbaijan*, Iran*, would be served by authorizing the foreign (including the FCC) has long treated Bermuda Iraq*, Kazakhstan*, Lebanon*, carrier to enter the U.S. market.” License as subject to U.K. WTO commitments, even Syria*, Tajikistan*, Turkmenistan, applications would still not be eligible for though the U.K. Government itself takes Uzbekistan*, and Yemen*. “streamlined processing”—the FCC’s 15- the position that Bermuda is not covered by day auto-grant procedure, and the foreign the United Kingdom’s WTO membership carrier affiliation notifications would or commitments, as Bermuda (unlike other »» East and Southeast Asia: Bhutan*, Laos* (WTO membership continue to require a 45 day notification U.K. overseas territories) declined to be expected by end of 2012), North prior to consummation of the investment covered. Nevertheless, USTR could weigh Korea, and Timor Leste. transaction resulting in cross-ownership. in on this particular issue, USTR tends to The FCC also reserves the right to consult take a more restrictive view of the WTO with the Office of the United States Trade status of dependent territories. »» Americas: Aruba, Bahamas*, and Representative (“USTR”) and other agencies Bermuda (status disputed). as to any anticompetitive problems that may exist for U.S. companies in the home * * * »» Europe: Andorra*, Belarus*, Bosnia market of the applicant. As an alternative and Herzegovina*, Channel Islands to outright elimination of the ECO test, the (Jersey and Guernsey), Kosovo, FCC proposes to retain but simplify the ECO For more information regarding U.S. Monaco, San Marino, and Serbia*. test, principally by eliminating certain of the market-entry rules or Wiltshire & Grannis’s Countries marked with an asterisk (*) have criteria for demonstrating a practical, ability international telecommunications and undertaken WTO accession negotiations. of a U.S. carrier to enter the applicant’s home undersea cable practices, or for assistance Many of the countries that have not market. in preparing comments to be filed in this undertaken accession negotiations are small proceeding once it formally commences, No Discussion of Dependent Territories. island states, particularly in the Pacific. please contact Kent Bressie at +1 202 730 In the NPRM, the FCC does not expressly 1337 or [email protected]. Two Alternatives Proposed. As the FCC consider issues involving the WTO status of overseas territories, possessions, and notes in the NPRM, “the detailed ECO Test W&G does not intend this advisory to convey dependencies. Some dependent territories requirements were designed to be applied legal advice. We circulate it as a convenience and (e.g., Aruba and the British Virgin Islands) are to countries that could support advanced do not intend it to reflect or create an attorney- expressly covered by the WTO commitments regulatory regimes, but most of the remaining client relationship as to its subject matter. non-WTO Member countries are smaller of the sovereign nations that control those countries and may be without resources to territories’ foreign and trade relations, support a regulatory framework that meets while some dependent territories (e.g., 20 21 Upgrading Cables Systems? More Possibilities That You Originally Think of!

22 Bertrand Clesca, Dr Herve Fevrier & Dr. Joerg Schwartz ith the predominance of subsea or could impact the system warranty, »» Overlay upgrade: Launching new cable systems for international, or could even cause some intellectual optical wavelengths in addition long-distance connectivity and property issues to be dealt with by the to the ones from the existing SLTE W equipment. This is generally the CapEx constraints experienced in most cable operator. But by now the situation is parts of the world, upgrading existing quite different – with subsea cable system carried out via an optical coupler to insert the new wavelengths into the submarine optical assets to maximize their operators assessing upgrade possibilities line and a splitter at the receive end. capacity and extend their lifetime is of the not only before the end of the warranty utmost importance. Such upgrades allow period but sometimes even before the For both upgrade options, there is the system operators to efficiently address the RFS date of the system! In fact it seems possibility to keep the original Line skyrocketing need for bandwidth. Subsea like the only reason why customers do Monitoring Equipment (LME) or to switch cable system upgrades can have different not purchase the wet plant completely to the LME equipment from the vendor flavors and can be applied to more or less separate from the dry equipment is that supplying the new SLTE (provided of complex systems. This article explores the they have not found a way (yet) for the wet course that this vendor has the capabilities different upgrade approaches that have plant supplier to guarantee performance to monitor the submerged equipment). been already applied in the field and can and system capacity. The new system design capacity is then be considered in the future. Xtera has been working on the upgrade of governed by the characteristics of the line Dry Upgrades submarine cable systems since 2001 and that largely consists of the optical fiber cable carried out its first commercial upgrade and repeaters. The key characteristics that When only the dry plant is involved, the project in Q1 2006. The major benefits may limit the maximal system capacity benefits of upgrading existing subsea from this relatively recently created include optical attenuation (not only the cable infrastructures are now well known upgrade market are more competition, original figure but also the increase due and accepted by the community. These more advanced technology at the terminal to multiple cable cuts/repairs if any) benefits include a lower cost since no level and lower incremental price for for unrepeatered systems, and the noise CapEx is required for laying new subsea new capacity. Upgrading SLTE in the generated along the system as well as its cables, a shorter lead time that is mostly cable landing stations typically requires a chromatic dispersion map and reaction driven by the supply of the new Submarine procurement and installation cycle of less to increased optical powers in the fiber Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) to be than 8-months, compared with an average (nonlinear performance) for repeatered connected to the cable, and no permitting of 3 years for building a brand new long- systems. issues making the availability date for the haul cable system (depending on size). The market research firm Ovum publishes new capacity more predictable. SLTE upgrade can be carried out on on a regular basis revenue figures for unrepeatered or repeatered cable systems This has not been historically always the the supply of the SLTE and repeaters with the main following two approaches: case. Initially, the original suppliers of for subsea cable system (these revenue the existing systems happily supported figures do not include subsea cable and »» Dark fiber upgrade: Lighting a dark the notion that connecting an SLTE from fiber pair when one is available, or marine operations). From Ovum data, another vendor would not work – or at it is viable to migrate all traffic onto the revenue figures for the dry upgrade least was not a good idea technically, a lit fiber pair; market (i.e. supply of only SLTE for 23 cable system. Capacity wise adding a ROPA tremendously increases the system capacity: for a cable system designed for an end-of-life attenuation of about 65 dB and with a design capacity of 100 x 10G, the insertion of ROPA brings about 10 dB of extra gain in the cable and boosts the design capacity to 70 x 100G. The addition of a single component per direction, like a ROPA, brings a 6-Tb/s capacity increase per fiber pair in this example.

This upgrade is, however, not as simple as just plugging in a component into the optical path. Firstly, this is an out-of-service upgrade of the wet plant which cuts the line and requires traffic restoration. Secondly, in order to get full capacity benefit, it requires careful design with respect to ROPA design, location and characteristics that need to be optimized and adapted to the pre-existing wet plant. Thirdly, there are commercial and operational aspects upgrading existing cable systems) can be equipment in the cable landing station, that will be found for any type of upgrade estimated to represent about 50% of the can have, however, very significant where the wet plant is reconfigured. On total revenue figures for the supply of the commercial and operational implications the commercial side, the baseline cost of SLTE and repeaters. – making most people stay away and not replacing/inserting a piece of wet plant even start thinking about it. is largely dependent on the water depth Wet Plant Reconfiguration and burial requirements. Still using the A new breath of life for unrepeatered example of an unrepeatered system, the If upgrading the terminals is not, or systems cable is very often in shallow water and no longer viable, the next obvious step the ROPAs are generally 80 km away from in upgrading subsea cable systems for There are cases, however, where this the end points. Both facts require cable further improvement of their capacity can can make a lot of sense, both technically burial and consequently a non-negligible be to reconfigure the wet plant. This can be and commercially. The simplest wet cost fort the ROPA insertion. achieved in different ways, depending on plant reconfiguration is the insertion of the type and generation of cable system. a Remote Optically Pumped Amplifier Another important factor is the cost of Touching the wet plant, and not only the (ROPA) into an existing unrepeatered vessel mobilization. A way to minimize it 24 is to check whether work can be performed as outside work of a maintenance ship (if it is, this work is usually interruptible). The type of vessel to be used also heavily impacts on the upgrade cost. In very shallow water, a mobile spread on an inshore vessel may be a better option than a cable repair ship. Still focusing on the example of an unrepeatered system where ROPAs are inserted, the marine work (single operation in shallow water, including burial) will take at least 6-10 days, at a cost of about $500k to $800k at today’s vessel costs (outside maintenance agreements). Of course this cost needs to be multiplied by the number of operations needed (e.g. 2 in the case of a single unrepeatered cable where a ROPA needs to be inserted at each end), and then compared to the financial benefit of the operation (e.g. return on invest by larger capacity to be sold). Using again the example of an unrepeatered cable system designed for an end-of-life attenuation of Other Types of Wet Plant Another type of wet plant reconfiguration about 65 dB and with a design capacity Reconfigurations can be the insertion of branching units of 100 x 10G, $1m to $1.6m are needed in order to connect to new countries and Assessing carefully the commercial address new markets along the main to insert two ROPAs; this cost offers a and operational consequences, more capacity increase of 6-Tb/s per fiber pair. subsea trunk. The reconfiguration will complex wet plant reconfigurations be easier if short, un-powered spurs are In addition to the marine expenditure beyond the insertion of ROPAs into a to be added to an existing cable system. discussed above, there is also a cost to single unrepeatered cable system can be Insertion of branching units for adding the operational impact: this is the cost considered. long spurs with repeaters has been also of traffic restoration during the upgrade The first obvious type of wet plant carried out, but mostly with incumbent operation. This cost is heavily dependent reconfiguration is the replacement of faulty/ vendor so far. The main reason for the on the “local” capacity market and capacity underspecified units. This corresponds for latter is that operators are concerned resources availability between the end instance to the replacing of degraded wet about the warranty for the wet plant points of the cable system to be upgraded. plant components (e.g. repeaters). (repeaters and cable) on the trunk route 25 – which sounds familiar to the argument mentioned above when terminal upgrades removed and the fiber sections spliced removing the old PDH regenerators and were first introduced. to each other in order to build a new inserting two ROPAs. unrepeatered cable system. Another Redeployment of Decommissioned variant is to replace the original, old- Longer regenerated cable systems can be Cable Systems generation repeaters by new-generation considered for this type of reconfiguration optical repeaters in order to increase the with the replacement of the regenerators Redeployment of cable systems is another by optical repeaters. In this case, type of wet plant reconfiguration which system capacity. Both operations can be carried out aboard the cable ship after the integration and test are highly critical has been successfully implemented several in order to ensure proper mechanical, times in the past three years. In addition recovery of the cable and while sailing to the new location for redeployment. electrical and monitoring interworking to the usual motivations for upgrading between the original cable and the new a cable system, the main drivers to cable Reconfiguration of Regenerated optical repeaters, while maximizing the redeployment are the decommissioning of Cable Systems system capacity. an old-generation cable and, sometimes, the legal obligation to recover the phased- A number of these systems are still in In conclusion, upgrading existing subsea out cable from the seabed in combination service or being retired, and still laid on the cable systems can be achieved at different with need for capacity in another part of seafloor. They were originally deployed levels and applied to virtually all the the world where thin pipes are sufficient with optical-electrical-optical regenerators cable types and generations. Challenging and funding of a new cable would be inserted in the cable every 50 to 80 km upgrades require, however, an in-depth difficult. typically, with a bit rate of 280 or 565 expertise in order to fully assess and Mb/s. Obviously the optical fibers were understand the fundamental limitations Palau National Communications shared specified for single wavelength operation that govern the ultimate system capacity. their business case for cable relay at and may not be always suitable for WDM Challenging upgrades require not only Submarine Networks World Singapore transmission. a strong experience in building and 2012 conference. For building new managing projects that can be more international optical connectivity, the From a capacity perspective, removing complex than the deployment of a new new cable approach required $40 to 65M the PDH regenerators from a short cable cable system, but also the capabilities of a CapEx while the alternative cable relay system can lead to a significant capacity full supplier for offering all the products option was estimated to about $30M. The increase. Using the example of a 330- and services that are necessary. cable relay approach will also speed up km, 565-Mb/s system, removing the Palau National Communications project regenerators and placing two ROPAs at the significantly, estimated to be in service locations of two previous regenerators (in within one year vs. three years for a brand order to minimize the amount of marine new cable system. operations) turns the regenerated system into an unrepeatered system with a design In addition to simply redeploy the capacity exceeding 80 Gb/s assuming 10G recovered cable as is, there are many waves. This represents a 150-fold increase variants to this relay approach. For in the cable system capacity by simply Note: Illustrations by courtesy of France 26 instance, the original repeaters can be Telecom Marine Bertrand Clesca is Head of Prior to Xtera, Dr Fevrier spent more than Global Marketing for Xtera 17 years with Alcatel in a wide variety and is based in Paris, France. of responsibilities including Director of Bertrand has over twenty the Photonic Networks research unit, Sr years’ experience in the Director for DWDM Product Development optical telecommunications Worldwide, VP & GM Optical Networks industry, having held a number of research, Alcatel USA and VP Network and Product engineering, marketing and Sales positions Strategy Alcatel Optics. Dr Fevrier in both small and large organizations. received his doctoral degree in Physics from the University of Paris and he holds a Bertrand joined Xtera in 2004 where his Physics engineering degree from the Ecole responsibilities included marketing, Centrale de Paris. customer interactions, and business development for both submarine and Dr. Joerg Schwartz is terrestrial high-capacity networks in responsible, as SVP, EMEA area before moving to his current Submarine Turnkey Global Marketing position. Solutions, for Xtera’s Turnkey Solutions product Bertrand Clesca holds an MSC in offering, delivering end- Physics and Optical Engineering from to-end submarine solutions to network Ecole Superieure d’Optique, Orsay operators based on the company’s (France), an MSC in Telecommunications transmission, equipment, and project from Ecole Nationale Superieure des execution expertise. Prior to this, Telecommunications, Paris (France), and Joerg has directed the NXT system an MBA from Sciences Politiques, Paris definition and developed Xtera’s systems (France). engineering team, providing network Dr Herve Fevrier joined solution design, field and lab trials, Xtera in 2000 and serves as sales support, and systems research. the Executive Vice President Other previous experiences include and Chief Operating engineering and operational management Officer. He provides both roles for Ericsson, submarine terminal the strategic and tactical development for Alcatel, and founding an leadership that leads to the acquisition optical components company. of new customers, development of new products, partnerships with vendors, and developers of complementary technologies. 27 Maximizing Network Capacity, Reach & Value Over land, under sea, worldwide

Global Supplier for Subsea Cable Systems

A pioneer in the upgrade of existing submarine cable systems, Xtera offers an extensive portfolio of solutions for submarine of repeatered or unrepeatered networks, starting from the supply of high-performance and reliable Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) to the implementation of global systems. With 100G already in commercial service on a repeatered cable system, Xtera can deploy new high-capacity cable systems or upgrading existing ones (by either replacing the existing SLTE or reconfiguring the wet plant).

28 To discuss how our scalable solutions help our customers minimize cost and maximize revenue, for both new and existing cable infrastructures, contact Xtera by visiting www.xtera.com. Put Your Company On The Map

Coming January 2013 29 Phoenix Participates In Underwater Search For Amelia Earhart’s Plane

30 Pete LeHardy n early July, on the 75th anniversary of this famous plane. For more information the disappearance of Amelia Earhart regarding the ongoing investigation and Iand her navigator Fred Noonan, mem- image analysis, please visit the TIGHAR bers of Phoenix International Holdings, website at www.tighar.org. Inc. (Phoenix) set sail from Hawaii in support of a search effort led by The Interna- Phoenix provides manned and unmanned tional Group for Historic Aircraft Recov- underwater operations, design engineer- ery (TIGHAR). The target of the search was ing, and project management services to Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E clients in the offshore oil & gas, defense, aircraft. After years of research, TIGHAR and other ocean-interest industries world- theorized that the plane went down near wide. Expertise is available from six re- the island of Nikumaroro, an atoll roughly gional offices in the areas of wet and dry 1,900 miles southwest of Hawaii. Phoe- hyperbaric welding, conventional and nix’s role was to search one square mile of atmospheric diving, robotic systems, and the seabed from 50 to 4,000 feet – off the tooling. Our capabilities support; under- northwest side of the island. water inspection, maintenance and repair; construction; deep ocean search & recov- To conduct the underwater search, Phoe- ery; and submarine rescue. nix deployed its new Bluefin Robotics built Bluefin-21 Autonomous Underwa- ter Vehicle (AUV) and a leased Remotely AUV was recovered aboard the K-O-K Operated Vehicle (ROV) from Submersible and data was reviewed by TIGHAR and Systems, Inc. (SSI). The underwater search Phoenix sonar imagery experts to iden- team consisted of five Phoenix AUV oper- tify targets for further investigation by ators / ROV technicians, two Bluefin AUV the ROV. Despite the challenging bottom technicians, and two SSI ROV technicians. conditions, the Phoenix AUV and ROV After a 9 day transit aboard the research team overcame adversity and successfully vessel Ka`imikai-o-Kanaloa (K-O-K), the searched over 1.2 square miles of the sea team arrived at Nikumaroro and com- floor – encompassing the entire planned menced undersea search operations. search area.

During 8 days on site, the AUV spent 53 This extensive underwater search pro- hours searching to a maximum depth of vided valuable AUV sonar imagery and 4,019 feet. Search operations required the ROV high definition video to support fur- AUV to operate 15 meters off the bottom ther study by TIGHAR and other forensic while working in and around extreme sea imaging experts – perhaps yielding more floor terrain that included deep crevasses definitive clues as to the whereabouts of 31 and sheer cliffs. After each mission, the scanpartner Trondheim Trondheim Foto: SPOT og Getty Images Getty og SPOT Foto:

arine dep ubm ths, t s Nex A ans goes deeper

Erik Rynning Sales & Project Manager Offshore: “We produced the so far world’s deepest umbilical which was installed at 2350 metre in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Nexans was the first to manufacture For further information please contact: Telecom: Oil & Gas: and install a 384 fibre submarine Nexans Norway AS Rolf Bøe Jon Seip P.O. Box 6450 Etterstad Phone: +47 22 88 62 23 Phone: +47 22 88 62 22 cable. Nexans has qualified and N-0605 Oslo Norway E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] installed their URC-1 cable family for Phone: +47 22 88 61 00 fibre counts up to 384 fibres. Fax: +47 22 88 61 01

Because so much of your performance runs through cables

Global expert in cables and cabling systems Reach, Reliability and Return on Investment: The 3R’s to optimal Subsea architecture

33 Vinay Rathore n 1872, Hans Christian Andersen was Programmable Modulation are enabling Two trends have been identified as behind one of the first people to recognize that subsea upgrades with both performance the scenes drivers in forcing subsea Isubsea networks were going to be big. and reliability leveraging the sunk (no operators to reconsider their subsea He wrote a children’s book to help educate pun intended) investment and delivering networks architectures. The first trend is the world about “the serpent beneath the a ‘step function’ improvement in the the end-user price declines of International sea”. Since 1872, though, subsea networks overall network. Further, ultra-long reach, bandwidth. With the steep price erosion have come a long way. Subsea operators, 500G and Terabit super-channels, ultra- of international circuits ranging from 10- recognizing the mission critical nature reliable Photonic Integrated Circuits, (field 15% per year, subsea network operators of international communications, pride proven to operate at 750M+hours without have become extremely sensitive to how themselves on the ultra-reliability of their failure (FIT rate <1.5) and intelligent much their network will costs to own and network, the ability of fiber optic cables to GMPLS control plane enable scale and operate, and this has forced a trend away span the entire globe and bring all of us a reliability. Also the added ability to from custom designed and manufactured little closer together. This paper will take seamlessly interoperate with terrestrial equipment, to volume manufactured a deeper look at subsea architecture, its networks without the use of back to back equipment, as long as it does not impact evolution, recent technological advances transponders, further reduces cost and service reliability. and industry best practices that promise to speeds up return on investment. dramatically improve return on investment. Architecture…that has adapted to the Unlike their terrestrial counterparts, times subsea networks are designed to exacting specifications, and tended to be more Critical elements of any subsea architecture expensive. The focus on reach and reliability include capacity, reach distance, reliability/ in some cases required custom components resilience and return on investment. The and special testing to prove the design first three elements are straightforward, could survive the toughest environments however, the fourth element assumes reaching the furthest distances. The more than technology, it assumes a new trade-off resulted in a noticeable delay subsea paradigm that takes advantage of in obtaining the latest technology. Many new technology in such a way that rapid subsea networks still operate with 2.5 Gb/s return on investment can be made while & 10 Gb/s wavelengths vs. their terrestrial sustaining lower operational costs, higher counterparts who are in the midst of a rapid levels of integration between subsea and shift to 100Gb/s wavelengths. Migration to terrestrial networks as well as low cost per volume manufactured solutions were often Gb/s of capacity. treated as a trade-off against other critical An example of that new subsea paradigm requirements, such as reach and reliability. could include elements of the following: However, recent technological innovations Architecture that has changed to adapt including Photonic Integration, Soft- with the time Decision Forward Error Correction and 34 The 2nd key trend is increased competition requires the ability to choose the super-channels also improve spectrum across subsea systems. This is a direct modulation format on-demand, on a per utilization by allowing tighter channel result of more countries demanding to link basis. Programmable modulation spacing and guard band elimination, connect to more international fiber systems, changes the business paradigm and resulting in more overall capacity from the preferably on shorter, higher performance speeds deployment through the use of fiber asset. Further, super-channels allow routes and for the best possible prices. volume manufactured line cards, while network engineers to keep pace with also reducing the number of modulation demand without increasing operational The results are evident in customer specific spares. The provisioning model is costs. Super-channel technology is demand for subsea upgrades that must be also simplified, as it simply uses point and tightly coupled with coherent modulation delivered in shorter intervals, with lower click to select the modulation format for the allowing the construction of super- prices and demands for faster innovation. best Reach/Capacity for every link in the channels that can be engineered for Many of those innovations will come network, as shown in figure 2. This ability any reach dependent upon the proper in the form of advancements that will also enables redeployment of existing modulation format chosen. drive greater reach and capacity per fiber hardware or line modules on other parts of system, but will result in a better overall the network where a different modulation Other dependencies driving the evolution business case. Some of those technological scheme would be more efficient. of super-channels include the extension of innovations are discussed below. the current ITU DWDM fixed grid spacing (defined in ITU G.694.1), with a more Balancing system reach and capacity flexible grid (ITU standard) to achieve Reach in subsea networks is highly even higher spectral efficiency, enabling dependent on the modulation format. a gain of up to 25% in net fiber capacity Various modulation formats offer different through more efficient spectrum use. An values. Modulation formats such as QPSK example of how 1 Tb/s super-channels transmit more power to reach further may be implemented using both QPSK distance, but also require more fiber and 16QAM are show in figure 3. spectrum, as shown in Figure 1 below. By contrast 16QAM offers more capacity within the same spectrum, but is limited in reach. Figure 2

Super-channel technology

Super-channel technology is an evolution Figure 3 of DWDM technology in which several optical carriers are combined to create a Commercial benefits of deploying composite line side signal of the desired super-channels is the deployment of Figure 1 capacity, and which is provisioned in one pre-provisioned bandwidth. In effect, operational cycle. Beyond operations, only one engineering/provisioning 35 Optimizing the overall subsea network cycle is initiated to deploy large chunks utilizing the same equipment, optimized may also offer longer reach, the reverse is of network capacity. This eliminates for the appropriate location within the also true. network engineering and provisioning network. See figure 4. TM time associated with customer services, When combined with FlexCoherent which can be upward of 60 days. Soft-Decision Forward Error Correction Programmable Modulation formats SD- (SD-FEC) FEC offers benefits enables the efficient Coherent Technology tradeoff between capacity and reach. Soft-decision forward error correction (SD- Existing fiber systems can benefit from Complex modulation formats also require FEC) for DWDM transmission systems an SD-FEC upgrade by increasing overall sophisticated receivers, also known as is a recent innovation that enables the spectral efficiency. For example, an coherent receivers. Coherent receivers increase of capacity and reach of optical existing HD-FEC 100Gb/s BPSK signal combine functions such as electronic links. Unlike Hard Decision FEC, which may now be able to operate using QPSK compensation for accumulated chromatic chooses ones and zeros to make correction with SD-FEC, effectively system doubling dispersion, Forward Error Correction decisions, SD-FEC uses probabilities, capacity in a given spectrum, while still (Soft-Decision and Hard Decision) and resulting in significantly improved system maintaining, or even extending original other sophisticated algorithms to ensure performance. By combining high speed reach targets. proper reception of the high speed coherent transmission systems with SD- signal. Utilizing the combination of the FEC, significant coding gain can be achieved Opportunities to Maximize Return on programmable modulation and coherent compared to Hard-decision forward error Investment (ROI) reception, network operators can deploy correction (HD-FEC). The tradeoff for this a seamless network solution that operates improvement is the requirement for higher Subsea networks have long been considered over metro, long-haul and subsea networks overhead and hence high transmitted baud special, for a number of reasons. Amongst rates, which incur some others, they may include the need to: Figure 4 transmission penalties. By 1) Operate in demanding optimizing the overhead, circumstances, under the sea, a 3dB coding gain can repairable only by special ships be achieved, effectively doubling reach when 2) Be the primary lifeline for many compared to enhanced remote countries FEC utilized in ITU G.709. This is a critical feature 3) Operate in any environment that allows 100Gb/s including salt water, teething subsea fiber systems sharks and boat anchors to span Pacific Ocean 4) Must reach super long distances distances. The coding (10,000 km +) gain is a trade-off against overhead, meaning a It is these requirements that force subsea higher overhead which fiber systems to be built to exacting specs, utilizes more spectrum 36 tested and then re-tested to ensure they work. In some cases the limitations have systems is in integration. No longer Opportunity #2 – DWDM/Switching impacted performance, raised costs and are subsea networks required to sit on integration extended delivery times of subsea network an island alone, with separate control equipment. Until recently, the limited and management. Instead, leveraging Most subsea networks are built with number of suppliers has been restricted to the coexistence of subsea and terrestrial predominance of simple point to point a few players. Today, the subsea market transponders on the same common topologies. The challenge with this is split into ‘new’ providers and ‘upgrade’ platforms in cable landing points, services architecture is the fact that without a providers. New providers being full can be provisioned from a terrestrial secondary aggregation device, such as turnkey cable deployment providers, and customer location anywhere on the muxponders or an external switch, many upgrade providers focusing on maximizing network to a terrestrial location anywhere circuits are underutilized, resulting in value from the existing wet plant. We else, yet traversing a subsea network in lower overall network efficiency. The will examine the ‘upgrade’ opportunities. between. The SLTE sites replace back ability to integrate switching within While there are several areas for ROI to back transponders with full photonic the SLTE offers dynamic, on-demand improvement as part of a subsea upgrade, integration reducing both power and add, moves and changes to the network we will limit our examination to these three: footprint required without compromising allowing the network to operate at on transmission performances typical optimum capacity at all times. Infinera 1) Subsea & Terrestrial network in all-optical implementation, while implements a technique known as TM integration also increasing reliability through the Bandwidth Virtualization enabling on- elimination of potential points of failure demand, hitless reconfiguration of large 2) Integrating DWDM and OTN pools of capacity up to 500G. The addition Switching in between. See Figure 5. Further, through the use of control plane technologies like of an integrated switch allows multiple client services to be switched and groomed 3) Automated & Shared Mesh GMPLS control plane, the services can be onto a single network circuit at maximum Protection provisioned on an end to end basis, even at the far end, as systems to provision efficiency. See Figure 6. Opportunity #1 – Subsea/Terrestrial all intermediate circuits. The value of Opportunity #3 – Automated and Shared integration this level of integration and control Mesh Protection extends beyond equipment savings with A key value of leveraging terrestrial operational savings as well. One of the most critical factors of the subsea technology that is matched to subsea infrastructure is the need for reliability. Not Figure 5 only are the subsea repairs challenging, the mission critical nature of the network cannot be underestimated. For example, the 2006 quake off southern Taiwan cut eight cables in 16 places, leaving China and southeast Asian internet users with no offshore connectivity for two days. It took more than a week to restore capacity and months to repair all the cables. (Source: 37 Figure 6 terminal equipment to allow for shared or backup protection services. Since this process is both optimized and fully automated, network operators gain the value of full protection and SLA compliance with little extra expense, with even more upsell opportunities. Maximizing the Return on Investment (ROI)

Leveraging many of the key technologies August 20, 2009 telecomasia.net) It is the level protection must consider all aspects above will not only help drive greater nature of undersea cables that requires of the service including the backhaul, the network efficiency, longer reach and higher services to be protected in multiple ways. client port protection and service level reliability, but also provide opportunities Methods of protection should hardware management. But most importantly to increase ROI. However, maximizing protection, multiple fiber protection and incorporating a mesh level protection ROI requires the right combination of the most importantly a mesh based network that allows the network to seek any above technologies along with the network protection capability as defined by the ITU number of restoration routes in the event flexibility to adapt to your changing G.SMP. of a catastrophic event enables customers network and customer needs. that have demanding reliability needs Hardware level protection means that to be restored in times as fast as 50ms, It is in this effort, that the value of photonic in the event of any type of system level by leveraging hardware based mesh integration becomes critical. Photonic failure, a redundant line card or alternate restoration. See Figure 7. integration is proven technology that has circuit path can be engaged. Services been in operation over 750+ million hours A further without ever experiencing a field failure. Figure 7 f i n a n c i a l Further, when it comes to combining benefit is the above referenced technologies into achieved by a high capacity transport and switching l e v e r a g i n g platform that does not compromise on the integrated either, photonic integration is the only transport and way forward. For example coherent s w i t c h i n g modulators and receivers, HD/SD- f u n c t i o n s FEC and integrated switching alone can within a single overwhelm a single line card, much less a device, which superchannel line card. See Figure 8. e l i m i n a t e s the need for In fact, with the benefit of miniaturization r e d u n d a n t using Photonic Integrated Circuit 38 (PIC) technology, multiple coherent modulators/receivers, HD/SD-FEC and they traverse can be protected by pre- reliability and ultra-long reach which integrated switching can all be combined determined or calculated, as determined drive profitability and longevity of subsea into a single line card that delivers up to by the network based upon the restoration networks. 500 Gb/s super-channels today, scaling requirements. Once SNC’s are established, to 1Tb/s super-channels in the future. they remain permanent unless there Combining these innovations in a Further, photonic integration not only is a network change and the circuit is solution that ensures maximum reach and utilizes less space, but also consumes less configured to be restored. Hardware based capacity, with the flexibility to select the power per Gb/s delivered. G.SMP (shared mesh protection) enables right technology with robust reliability sub 50ms restoration, even for catastrophic are critical to maximizing return on Leveraging a subsea platform that failures. As shown in Figure 8. investment and ultimately enhancing the consolidates multiple functions into ‘serpent’ that transmits bits under the sea. small, high density, high reliability unit It is this level of automation and reliability is only further enhanced with automated that will enable the future unmanned cable Vinay Rathore brings 20 management and Generalized Multi- landing sites and further drive operational years of telecom experience Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) control costs down, while increasing service across a broad array of plane. GMPLS in an industry standard capabilities and reliability overall. technology. He has helped control plane technology that enable point some of the world’s largest and click service set-up, with the ability Summary & Conclusions companies including Sprint, Global One, MCI, Alcatel and Ciena to establish and reconfigure Switched Unlike their terrestrial counterparts, subsea build & market their newest products, Network Connections (SNC) as needed to networks remain special and demanding. technologies and services. Mr. Rathore’s restore service operation. The flurry of technological innovation area of expertise includes network Once SNC’s are established, the route including Photonic Integration, Soft- Decision Forward engineering, operations, sales & marketing in both wireline and wireless systems as Figure 8 Error Correction, FlexCoherent TM well as leading edge network solutions p r o g r a m m a b l e spanning Layer 0 to Layer 3. Mr. Rathore c o h e r e n t holds a degree in Electrical Engineering m o d u l a t i o n , from Virginia Polytechnic Institute as well s u p e r- c h a n n e l s as an MBA from the University of Texas. and Shared Mesh Protection (G.SMP)

all provide critical benefits of improved fiber p e r f o r m a n c e , m a x i m u m s p e c t r u m efficiency, ultra- 39 The Undersea Cable Report 2013 Intelligent intelligence - go beyond the numbers! From Terabit Consulting Publication Date: September, 2012

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41 James Barton he term ‘cellular backhaul’ covers more width. In addition, the use of inclined orbits “I believe that using the Ka-Band will drop now than it did two or three years ago, is becoming more widespread, particularly prices dramatically”, says Furstenburg. “The Tencompassing a far broader range of in emerging markets. only enabler that it will need to win rural in- technologies that have become more wide- ternet customers is the data rate that those spread, including internet services offered by Satellites typically have a 15-year lifespan, customers are demanding.” digital devices as well as remote or maritime and towards the end of this its orbit will be- communications facilitated by small cells. come less stable; to use the service there must The DVB-S2 satellite standard was widely be a tracking mechanism from the antenna believed to be so close to its physical limit Fibre is often thought of as the go-to tech- that follows the satellite so that the intensity that it could not be improved in a significant nology for backhauling, but it isn’t always of the signal doesn’t drop. way; this resulted in the entire industry shift- an option – particularly in emerging re- ing its focus towards improved compres- gions such as Africa and Latin America, Satellites with inclined orbits typically com- sion. Data rates are key, according to Furst- where there simply isn’t enough fibre in the mand far lower prices than newer satel- enburg – providing reliable, fast internet to ground. Markets that are undergoing exten- lites; a trial conducted by Novelsat and SES rural consumers will require around 1Gbps, sive growth can often run into this problem, found that it was possible to compete with which has not yet been achieved. and it is in these situations that satellite back- reduced-cost fibre in Africa via a combina- haul becomes a financially viable alternative. tion of a high-reliability modem and inclined “At the end of the day, we’re a bunch of orbit satellites. By adding in a capacity mul- plumbers providing pipes”, he says. “What In areas that are lacking in fibre infrastruc- tiplier, it becomes possible to reduce prices arrives through the pipe is down to the con- ture, satellite backhaul has numerous advan- from around $3000 a month to just $1000. sumer. The major impact of the technology is tages over competing technologies such as to reduce the cost of ownership to the opera- microwave, according to David Furstenburg By reducing the costs of backhauling, it is tor, thereby enabling lower cost services to of Novelsat, who points to the area of disas- possible to transfer the savings to the end the end user.” ter relief as an example. Citing the 2011 Japa- user, and – particularly in emerging markets nese tsunami, he notes that of the four active – this typically results in massive uptake. and four backup cables that connected Japan As soon as more people adopt the service, it to the USA, six were rendered unusable fol- starts a cycle of cost reduction. This article reprinted from: lowing the disaster.

“There is no other system that will have the resilience of satellite, but there are two major challenges with the technology: cost and delay. These are the drawbacks, but there are a number of ways to overcome them”, says Furstenburg.

Across the satellite industry, Ka-band services are becoming increasingly common as they significantly lower the cost of band- 42 2013Submarine Telecoms Industry Calendar

Coming Soon To A Wall Near You innovative. independent. inspired.

44 Back Reflection by Stewart Ash Lumps and Bumps how its manufactures went about system important statement because, unlike fibre equalisation. The system in question was optic cable, the attenuation of coaxial cable One of the major design challenges for a the STC Submarine Systems (now Alcatel- changes with temperature and hydrostatic modern DWDM fibre optic submarine Lucent Submarine Networks) 14Mhz pressure. This meant that cable sections cable system is ensuring that end to end System. The system design was based on were manufactured to a specific length transmission performance is the same for a 1.47” (37.34mm) diameter, coaxial cable in order to have the correct attenuation each wavelength. The attenuation of fibre with a characteristic impedance of 54.4Ω; in a particular location on the sea bed at differs slightly with each wavelength as repeaters, to compensate for the signal a specific water depth and sea bottom does the gain of optical amplifiers and, loss in the cable, were spaced at regular temperature. due to manufacturing tolerances, no intervals along the cable. Each repeater amplifier or piece of fibre is exactly the contained power separation filters to The repeater amplifiers were designed to same as another. These small differences separate the transmission signals from the compensate for the loss of the cable plus are cumulative along a system and so DC power and directional filters to divide the loss of the repeater filters. Of course, it it becomes essential to equalise the the transmission path into Low Band was impossible to make the gain shape of discrepancies, either at the Terminal (0.3 – 6.00MHz) and High Band (8.00 – the amplifiers exactly match these losses Station or, for trans-oceanic systems, 13.7MHz). and, due to manufacturing tolerances, in the submerged plant. This need for each repeater’s overall performance was equalisation is not a modern requirement, The attenuation, or power loss, of a coaxial unique. This meant that cumulative, during the Telephone Era (1950 -1986), cable is proportional to the frequency of the frequency dependent differences wideband equalisation was standard signal transmitted; the 14MHz system was developed, section by section, along the practice and it was a far more complex designed such that, for each repeater span, system. The repeater also introduced task than today’s optical equalisation. the cable had an attenuation of 45dB at the a secondary transmission problem. In highest operating frequency of 13.7MHz, order to joint the 1.47” (37.34mm) cable to To illustrate this, we will consider perhaps under sea bed conditions. This resulted the repeater, the cable had to be tapered the most successful, in terms of sales, in a nominal repeater spacing of 6.5nm down to a 0.310 (7.87mm) diameter tail submarine telephone cable system ever and 45 (12.06km). Under sea bed conditions is an cable that had a braided outer screen. This tapered termination and the repeater itself be taken into consideration. Because of be noted that during the Telephone Era, provided a discontinuity or “mismatch” the shorter cable lengths between the cable sections and repeaters were only in the transmission line impedance. Equaliser and the Repeater, reflected joined together during the loading of the When an electrical signal propagates signals were attenuated less and so the cable ship i.e. System Assembly and Test along a transmission line if it encounters mismatch ripple could be of much greater (SAT) was carried out on the cable ship a mismatch a small amount of the signal magnitude. To counteract this problem not in the cable factory. AT&T, Alcatel, is reflected back down the transmission the position of each Equaliser, between Fujitsu and NEC took this approach; they line. This occurs at the cable repeater the repeaters, would be offset from the measured the individual components, did interface and the reflected signal travels nominal in a predetermined pattern. the calculations, produced a predicted back along the cable, being attenuated, Although these short Equaliser sections performance and then designed and built until it reaches the earlier repeater and made available 13dB of excess gain at each Equaliser in the factory. For a period once again a small part of the reflected 13.7MHz, the attenuation of coaxial cable AT&T introduced some flexibility into signal is re-reflected along the cable in at lower frequencies is much less and at its equalisation capability by building an the same direction as the primary signal. the bottom of the Low Band there was Equaliser that had a limited number of It depends on the phase relationship insufficient excess gain to allow any useful circuits that could be switched into the between the original signal and the double equalisation. This problem was overcome transmission path during the lay by the reflected signal as to whether they add or by designing the Low Band amplifier to use of a complicated system of external subtract. This phase relationship will be over compensate for the cable losses and magnets that moved ball bearings within slightly different at each frequency and so build excess gain over the 15 repeater the Equaliser housing. so this phenomenon produces an effect sections to make available sufficient excess called “mismatch ripple”. To prevent the gain for useful equalisation. STC took a different approach, its build-up of mismatch ripple the lengths of Equaliser housing could be opened and the repeater sections were offset from the What has been described so far are the closed on the cable ship, thus giving access nominal in a predetermined pattern. engineering issues that all of the submarine to the transmission path at each Equaliser cable manufactures had to address; and allowing unique passive circuits To deal with these variations in however, how STC Submarine Systems made from Inductors (L), Capacitors (C) transmission performance, submerged differed from the other suppliers is how and Resistors (R) to be designed for each Equalisers were introduced into the it went about carrying out the necessary Equaliser. Each Equaliser did contain a system. For the 14MHz this was every 15 system equalisation. standard, factory built Equaliser to address repeaters or approximately every 100nm the main, known discrepancies. This (185.53km) of cable. The repeater section To equalise a system effectively it is Equaliser was designed to leave a nominal between repeaters 15 and 16 was reduced necessary to predict its performance on flat 4dB of excess gain across both bands by an amount of cable equivalent to 13dB the sea bed, this can be done by measuring with an additional cable shaped gain of of attenuation at 13.7MHz. The Equaliser the performance of individual cable 3dB @ 13.7MHz, available for shipboard was placed mid-section between two sections and repeaters in the factory, add equalisation. nominal 2.3nm (4.27km) lengths of cable. the results together and then applying Once again, for long systems, mismatch mathematical formulae to predict During the laying operation, transmission performance on the sea bed. It should tests of the system were made between 46 ripple in the Equaliser sections had to the Equaliser test point on the cable ship some time for the internal temperature ±0.5dB and a maximum deviation from and the terminal station. The results of the repeater to adjust to ambient as the 0.00dB no greater than 1.0dB. This target of these tests were then operated on to pressure house created a thermal lag of was regularly achieved. predict system performance when the some 6-8 hours. whole Equaliser block (15 repeaters) had In order for the cable ship to plan and been laid. This prediction was called the As can be seen, at the beginning of maintain a steady laying speed, the “Equaliser Requirement”. To do this it laying an Equaliser block, the Equaliser transmission and Equaliser design team was necessary to know the, length of cable Requirement was only a small percentage worked to a strict 18 hour design schedule. already laid, the length of cable yet to be actual performance and over 90% In the first 14 hours detailed transmission laid, the number of repeaters laid and yet prediction. However, as laying progresses measurements were carried, the necessary to be laid, the temperature of the cable and the amount of prediction decreased. To LCR circuits were designed built and repeaters on the ship and the water depth ensure that predictions were accurate, tested then, the LCR circuits were inserted and temperature of the sections of cable still graphs of the Equaliser Requirement, at 6 into the Equaliser which was then closed to be laid. When tests were carried out, at – 8 frequencies in each band were plotted and pressurised. This last process took any point in laying of the block, there would against the amount of cable laid. If all 2-3hours and this was scheduled to be be a percentage of cable and repeaters on was well the prediction for each frequency completed 1 hour before the Equaliser the sea bed, another percentage on the would remain the same and the graphs was due to be laid. This strict schedule ship and, depending on the water depth, parallel to the X axis. However, if there was maintained from one Equaliser to the a small amount in transit between the two were errors in any of the assumptions then next throughout the lay. The steady laying (the laying catenary). In deep water the the graphs would slope up or down. This speed was essential for accurate cable catenary could be up to 20nm (37.11km) slope could then be extrapolated to as laid placement at a time when slack control in length. Factors that had to be taken position and the differences taken into was based on taut wire and limited GPS into account were the temperature and account in the final Equaliser design. coverage. pressure coefficients of the cable, the effects The individual LCR circuits were designed, Today, system equalisation can be carried of temperature and pressure changes on manufactured in clean area conditions and out in the factory, during SAT, as there are the 0.310” (7.87mm) termination as well tested individually. Then all the circuits no significant laying affects to be taken into as its change in characteristic impedance were inserted into the Equaliser and consideration. The system performance when it was immersed in water. All these tests made through them to the terminal in the factory will be very similar to its cable affects had a short time constant of station. These final tests were then performance once installed, so shipboard 10 -15 minutes. The repeaters also had a converted to an Equaliser Requirement system equalisation is another skill/black small but finite temperature coefficient before the Equaliser was closed and art that has been consigned to the history which had to be taken into consideration. pressurised. The target was to have a books. When powered the internal temperature final Equaliser Requirement of 0.00dB, at of the repeater was 5 – 6°C above ambient. all frequencies within the transmission Repeaters could be at an ambient of 25 bands, by smoothing out all the lumps and – 30°C on the ship in deep water the sea bumps, eliminating any steep slopes and bed temperature could be 2°C. It took achieving an overall performance within 47 SUBMIT YOUR FREE LISTING

Including nearly 150 individual companies, this Directory serves as an invaluable tool for anyone looking to familiarize themselves with the submarine industry.

The directory is detailed by 11 distinct categories of submarine fiber businesses, from analysts to legal

48 support and cable planners to cable suppliers. PTC'13 20-23 January 2013 Honolulu, USA Conferences Website

SubOptic 2013 22-25 April 2013 Paris, France Website

ICPC 21-23 May 2013 Miami, USA Website

Submarine Cable Forum 4-5 November 2013 Miami, USA Website

49 Advertisers Index ISSN 1948-3031 Nexans www.nexans.com 32

Issue Themes: OFS www.ofsoptics.com 5 January: Global Outlook SubOptic www.suboptic.org 21 March: Finance & Legal Terabit Consulting www.terabitconsulting.com 40 May: Subsea Capacity July: Regional Systems WFN Strategies www.wfnstrategies.com 44 September: Offshore Energy Xtera www.xtera.com 28 November: System Upgrades

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ubTel Forum has the best readers. changes will be incorporated into our next I'm not saying that to flatter you or edition, due early next year. Sto encourage you to buy advertising. It's my way of saying thank you. Did you see an error in the Almanac? What about on our Submarine Cable Map? While As you are probably aware, we released we may seem superhuman here at SubTel visit our mobile site the fourth issue of our Submarine Cable Forum, we do make mistakes. If you find Almanac last week. If you've read it, one, please contact me and I will see that it you can imagine the countless hours of is fixed. research that went into the book. Mistakes, unfortunately, are made. That's when our As always, thanks for reading. readers step up.

I want to thank Stewart Ash, Derek Cassidy, Willy Davidson, Martha Etsibah, John Hibbard, Takashi Kodama, Larry Schwartz, subtelforum.com Ras Scollay, Horace Sookdeo, and Christian von der Ropp for submitting corrections to previous editions of our Almanac, and John McLean and Petroc Wilton for submitting changes after the release of Issue 4. These