 51 M a y Voice 2010 of the ISSN 1948-3031 Industry

Subsea Capacity ISSN 1948-3031 Submarine Telecoms Forum is published bimonthly by WFN Strategies. The publication may not be reproduced or st transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, elcome to the 51 issue of Submarine other, and willing to listen just a little more without the permission of the publishers. WTelecoms Forum magazine, our to another point of view. Submarine Telecoms Forum is an independent com­mercial publication, Subsea Capacity edition. Here are some serving as a freely accessible forum for thoughts at 32,000 feet, somewhere over New fascinating technologies aside, it is professionals in industries connected with submarine optical fibre technologies and the Pacific... altogether quite something to be a part of techniques. something a century and a half old. It is Liability: while every care is taken in preparation of this publication, the The Bose headphones with some lovely also quite comforting. publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information herein, or new Frampton playing on the iPod allow any errors which may occur in advertising or editorial content, or any consequence my mind to wonder. The last four days Till we meet again. arising from any errors or omissions. at SubOptic in Yokohama have been an The publisher cannot be held responsible for any views expressed by contributors, incredible whirlwind of nonstop activity: and the editor reserves the right to edit any selling, cajoling, learning and seeing faces advertising or editorial material submitted for publication. of old friends from a few past lives. And Contributions are welcomed. Please yes, new acquaintances and friends have forward to the Managing Editor: been made as well. PUBLISHER Wayne Nielsen We come together as an industry just once Tel: +[1] 703 444 2527 every few years, but it was the host's words Email: [email protected] at TE SubCom's reception which best

EDITOR express why I have worked and stayed the Kevin G. Summers last 25 years in this industry: how simply Tel: +[1] 703 468 0554 we help people converse; how we make Email: [email protected] this world a little smaller. Maybe that makes us a little more empathetic to each 2 Copyright © 2010 WFN Strategies Subsea In This Issue Capacity Exordium 2 The 40G Undersea Market Heats 27 Letters to the Editor 45 Wayne Nielsen Up Harald Bock & Joe Capasso Conferences 47 News Now 4 Back Reflection 33 Stewart Ash & Kaori Shikinaka Letter to a Friend 48 Upgrading to 40G 7 Jean Devos Jas Dhooper & Wang Jingwei Subsea Capacity Issues 34 Between China and U.S. Advertiser Index 49 The Communication Revolution 14 Xu Yewei & Zhu Hongda and Connectivity To Ireland Coda Derek Cassidy Feed The Need: The Explosive 38 50 Demand For Undersea Kevin G. Summers Linking Africa To The World: 21 Technologies! Opportunities Provided By ICT Submarine Networks World Uptake Essential To Mobilising The Youth Of Africa Lowest Latency Connectivity To 41 Bran Herlihy South America Takes Center Stage Erick Contag

3 News Now  150 year old photos on BT’s new online  CanaLink and Alcatel-Lucent sign multi-  EASSy cable lands in Tanzania gallery million Euro contract to deploy 2000 km submarine cable network linking Canary  EASSy construction completed ahead of  Alcatel Lucent to compensate Telecom NZ Islands to Spain?s main schedule over 3G network failings  Ciena Highlights Market-Leading 40G  Gateway Communications keeps East  Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs showcases and 100G Coherent Technology for Next- and Southern Africa connected during next-generation optical transmission Generation Submarine Networks at SEACOM outage technologies at annual Optical Fiber SubOptic 2010 Conference  Global Crossing deploys new capacity  Confidex Ironside Micro And Confidex using Xtera NXT next generation  American Samoa Hawaii Cable owners Rpc Tag Family Establish Confidex As Submarine Line Terminal Equipment Apply for Transfer Control The Tag Provider For Returnable Transit Items  Gulf Bridge International, Omantel sign  Apollo and Alcatel-Lucent break agreement to land GBI’s sub-sea cable submarine networking speed barrier  Corning Introduces Ultra-Low-Loss, system in Oman Large-Effective-Area Submarine Optical  AQEST, the expert company in submarine Fiber  Main One, Seacom And Efive Telecoms cable business, is born! Exploring Opportunity To Create A Pan-  Crown Prince launches AAG submarine African Fibre Ring Solution cable  Martha’s Vineyard to receive new  Detecon to restructure Angola Telecom submarine cable  Mauritania connected to submarine cable  Rostelecom, As Part Of An International  Unity Cable System Completed, Boosts linking Europe to Africa Consortium, Signed A Contract With Trans-Pacific Connectivity Alcatel-Lucent To Modernize Georgia -  Media Services Company MediaXstream Russia Communications Line  Usda-Rus Issues New Guide For Rebranded as Hibernia Media Broadband Stimulus Round Ii  Sea-Me-We-3 Suffers Fault  NEC Deploys Latest Submarine  Verizon Business Enhances European Earthquake Observation System with  Seacom Network Disturbance Caused Network, Plans Europe India Gateway JAMSTEC By Extended Repair Work On Sea-Me-We Activation 4 Cable  NTT Com to Establish New Global IP-  Wfn Strategies Achieves Bbb VPN POPs in Asia, U.S.A. and Europe  Seacom Rival Eassy Set To Go Live Accreditation

 Offshore Marine Management registers as  SubOptic Releases Final Program  Wfn Strategies Becomes Certified GmbH B-Corporation  SubTel Forum Podcast – Episode 5: Global  Optical Cable Corporation Obtains New Marine Systems  Wfn Strategies Establishes Aqest As $6 Million Revolving Credit Facility European Business Development Office  Tata Communications Partners With  OTEGLOBE and Cyprus have announced Infinity Africa To Expand Its Global  Wfn Strategies To Teach SubOptic 2010 their Reselling Agreement Network And Service Offering Into Master Class Tanzania  Pacnet?s EAC Pacific Ready for Service  Telecommunication Infrastructure  Qtel and GBI sign agreement for new Company Of I.R.Iran And Gulf Bridge international gateway for Qatar International Agree To Land Gbi’s Submarine Cable In Iran  Repair work on SEAMEWE-4 submarine cable to start  Telecuba Request Fcc Waiver

5 6 Upgrading to 40G

Jas Dhooper

7 & Wang Jingwei C apacity 140% Overlay (Hybrid) Wavelength Upgrade New initial Capacity? New S L TE Upgrade Beyond the Narrower channel spacing, more wavelengths Design Capacity SLM 120% Trib

CPL CTB

100% Design Capacity WDM Trib PFE 80%

C apacity Existing SLTE G rowth 60% Trib Trib: Tributary CPL: coupler

40% WDM More Channels or Initial Capacity Build a New System? CTB: Cable Terminal Box Higher Bit Rate Trib S LM: S ubmarine Line Monitor

0 5~8 10~18 Service Life

ystem owners have invested heavily technology and wavelength rate, the For different systems, operators can choose in the construction of submarine maximum capacity for an existing adding or replacing advanced terminal Scable systems, they want a longer submarine system can be promoted to a equipments to increase the bandwidth. service life along with good expendability higher level than its original design. The There are two options for adding terminal on the capacity - always being partially lit number of wavelengths can be upgrade up equipments - lighting dark fibers; and when the cable commences operation. But, to 192 wavelengths per fiber pair (25GHz overlay wavelength. These two solutions with the explosive escalation of the internet channel spacing) and the wavelength can add new wavelengths to the system as application, mobile communications and rate can be greatly increased to 10Gbps, well as keep the old terminal equipments. other related network applications, the even 40Gbps. The 40Gbps technology has Replacing terminal equipment enables system capacity will be upgraded until become more mainstream as technology full utilization of the advantages of new reaching its maximal design capacity. progresses. And the 100Gbps is destined equipments and realize the maximum Then, you may ask, is that the end of the to emerge as the future trend in industry. bandwidth, but there is also a waste of old system’s maximum capacity? The answer All of these facts indicate that existing equipment. is absolutely not. submarine cable systems have great potential in possible capacity expansion For many operators, these methods With the development of transmission with the evolution of transmission provide an effective way to boost traffic 8 technologies such as the DWDM technology. volume by introducing new services. station equipment, before looking towards marine activities and potentially replacing the submarine cable system!

In the current climate these methods are proving to be very popular and cost effective, providing an increase in system life and enhancing both revenue generating opportunities and network headroom. Other options such as network restoration capability can also be serviced by these upgrade options.

Whilst the introduction of new DWDM technology may involve the implementation This is also an important way to increase that pain, and if carefully managed, have of separate NMS platforms adding revenue, but there are also various factors proved to have virtually no impact to complexity and cost, it does enable the at an operational level that need to be existing services. Where there is a potential service provider to leverage the existing considered. traffic hit, then either restoration paths asset base and gain an extension to its life can be used to divert capacity, or planned span. However a single platform solution Customers with mission critical services works can be set up at a point in time that takes away such complexities and enables don’t want to have several hours of has minimal customer disruption. the operator benefits such as end to end downtime, which equates to a loss of management visibility, point and click revenue, during such upgrades. Therefore, From the operator’s perspective, the functionality and performance management. network planning and design for future ability to add incremental channel cards With either option the importance of demand is a key consideration. Depending or to introduce an overlay solution really network optimization plays an important upon the operator’s starting point, this does enable a significant improvement factor in the decision making process. will determine any potential impact, and it both to operational efficiency and a return would be fair to say that the above upgrade on the investment. There is considerable So how does this work in real life’? options are a sound way to minimize economic sense in upgrading the landing 9 We present two cases where the customer has given us specific conditions about their 8@10G system existing submarine network and capacity upgrade needs. These case examples are real system deployments, each with unique system baseline conditions:

8@10G A Southeast Asia cable system faced a great challenge due to its long service age, 323km as well as a bandwidth of 2.5Gbps (one STM-16) per fiber pair. It is a crucial part Terrestrial of the backbone and also a backup route 8@10G for a ring network. The customer has Network a couple of options, 1) Upgrade it or 2) build a new network. Thanks to the new 8@10G technologies, a cost-effective solution was selected. This involved replacement the 328km 328km terminal equipment with an 8x10Gbps DWDM system.

The key features and system elements are Legend: follows:

• Avoid building new system, low SLTE investment achieves high return. • Advanced technologies such as Submarine Cable high boost amplifier, Raman, ROPA realize Ultra-Long hop transmission Land Cable over 300Km. • Realize 8ch@10G per fiber pair, 10 32 times of existing bandwidth, and the higher bandwidth is also 64@10G system upgradeable in future. • Long-term stable operation, reduce unrepeatered the OPEX.

The new system provides 32 times the Add Add old bandwidth and successfully helps the 5@10G 5@10G operator to save their CAPEX. As such immediate benefits are able to be obtained during year one of the upgrade, with further upside as incremental capacity is Add Add 5@10G turned on with this new upgrade option. 5@10G

Another example is within the Mediterranean region; in this case the >2200km Add customer needed an upgrade on the 5@10G existing system to meet their increased requirement for more bandwidth. But they faced a great challenge that they wanted unrepeatered to get a promotion on the capacity at the Legend: same time to avoid affecting their existing services. This is often a real operation concern - how do we ensure upgrades are SLTE really seamless? Repeater A further customer requirement was that they needed to keep their legacy terminal Submarine Cable equipment. So the solution is an overlay wavelength upgrade to increase the 11 total system bandwidth. The increased presented here provide the customer from our customers we can demonstrate wavelengths will add more capacity as with a viable alternative option to full a proven & robust methodology which is well as keeping existing traffic. submarine network replacement. As we real and available today. have seen with recent events in Iceland The key features and system elements are and loss of European air travel, high Customers can now establish a DWDM follows: capacity networks will continue to play an service using automated provisioning ever increasing role within multinational and upgrades, depending upon existing  Coupling with existing SLTE (4 and global organizations. system configurations. This means quick wavelengths), almost no impact on access to revenue. the existing wavelengths. Through successful upgrade, the existing  64ch@10G full configuration over submarine cable systems could realize Selecting the right choice of bandwidth to 2000km. far greater bandwidth than the designed match the service set may place additional  DRZ format provides over 5dB maximum capacity to lead to a longer constraints, however today the application system margin, better than the service life. This is very exciting news of multi service cards removes any conflict, existing network performance. for operators and cable owners around meaning greater bandwidth per channel, the globe. However, there are still many lower number of system cards (especially So the combination of improved details regarding the techniques employed for 40G transmission) and a simplified modulation and increased channel count when handling an actual system upgrade provisioning setup. enable the customer to gain these benefits to refine, such as the monitoring (and in addition to improvement in system management - if needed) of wet plant, These factors all contribute to driving margin, and of course longevity in the the allocation of the wavelengths, the down the capital and operating cost. submarine cable plant. chromatic dispersion compensation, the Advanced technology coupled with the compatibility of the service interfaces, right upgrade option means less hardware, Conclusions amongst other things. The engineering lower CAPEX and reduced operational also needs to be carefully planned and expenses. As many earlier systems have been executed. deployed without the foresight of Therefore carriers, who have invested today’s new breed of bandwidth-hungry These techniques are now firmly heavily in the construction of submarine applications such as streaming media and established and undergoing continual cable systems, now have a real and viable social networking, the upgrade options improvement, with many cases studies way to increase the service life span and 12 drive incremental revenue. The two Jas Dhooper has 20 years examples presented within this short experience within the report give a flavor of what is possible Submarine & Service Provider and many other examples exist that truly sectors, currently serving as enable customers to extend the life span VP Service Delivery Office of current submarine cable systems, far for Huawei Marine Networks (HMN) in before the need to deploy new systems. China. He has gained significant experience in large scale telecommunications project On top of all of this new technology, it delivery of optical submarine systems and will be a matter of time before a new delivered many multi-million dollar projects development arrives on the market and in a number of countries. He was employed stretches the system life time further by STC Submarine systems in the late 1980’s, still. R&D is heavily focused upon such which consolidated into Alcatel Submarine technologies to enable customers some Systems in the 1990’s. He was involved in a level of comfort that the next chapter number of the major transatlantic submarine of future upgrade options is already in systems both in a development role and in development! delivery, including time on cable ships. Jas also has held a number of senior management & technical positions in the operator side, working for Cable & Wireless and Interoute Communications since the mid-1990s. Jas holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Engineering honors degree from London University and has published several papers in the field of Telecommunications and held technical positions on International conference bodies and a Chartered member of the IEEE.

13 The Communication Revolution and Connectivity To Ireland

14 Derek Cassidy Figure 1. A map t can be said that Guttenberg was another new invention, the steam train. between Dover and Calais. This was a feat of the Atlantic cable with among the first group of people and Actually, the rollout of the railways nearly so enormous that the original players did straight line technologists responsible for the always went hand in hand with the rollout not realise that they were making history. diagram. Between I Newfoundland, first communications revolution with of the telegraph. Soon the same obstacle It was made possible by surrounding Canada and the invention of the printing press in to the railway was to become the same the copper wires or conductors needed Valentia, Ireland. the 15th century. From here the ability to obstacle to the telegraph, the oceans and to transmit the electrical signals that communicate with a bigger audience and seas. However the telegraph was soon to made the telegraph with yarn tape, wire to pass on and distribute information was overcome this obstacle. armouring and Indian rubber. However, made a lot easier by Guttenberg’s printing the Indian rubber which was the water Ever since the invention of the telegraph press. Three hundred years later, the daily repellent insulator was soon replaced and the ability of man to communicate newspaper became the normal system by a more sustainable product thanks to across land via the electric powered of delivery method used for passing and Bewley and Hancock. In 1845 they met conducting wires delivering telegrams distributing information. For the next one and agreed to develop Hancock’s patent and telegraphs messages to all corners of hundred years, the daily newspaper was for a rubber insulator, which is generally the country, there was a desire to extend the main delivery method until the era of thought to be the foundation of the Gutta that reach across the water. The first step the telegraph took over. Percha Company. In 1850, the year that took place in 1850 with the laying and the submarine cable was born, the cable It was thanks to men like Morse, Cooke putting into use of the first submarine cable also became a driver feeding the telegraph and Wheatstone that we entered the second communications revolution. This revolution in communication aided the distribution of information across countries and continents in minutes rather than days, weeks and months before the telegraph age. It was soon discovered that there was not enough capacity to cater for all the information, and so an increase in network design, build and rollout took place where new telegraph networks were built across continents, 15 usually following the newly laid tracks of Figure2: A communication revolution helping to The 1857 cable failed, the 1858 cable lasted between the two islands which were the map showing the number of distribute information. The telegraph three months, the 1865 cable was lost like pillars of the empire or the United Kingdom. submarine cables passed its last and final obstacle: water. the 1857 cable. However the 1866 cable As time went on and as the British Empire in operation in was successfully landed. The 1865 cable grew, so did the need for communications, 1921. Soon an interest in connecting Ireland to was picked up and finally landed. The and soon there was an issue with the lack Figure 3: the Britain was envisaged, and in 1852 Coaxial cables 1866 cable was abandoned in 1872 while of available copper circuits to match the there were three attempts, all of which soon became the newly connected 1865 cable was demand for communications links. New the norm and failed. However, in 1853 a connection replaced the older abandoned in 1877. submarine cables and new links were laid was successful between Port Stewart in telegraph type from Britain, Ireland and France to the US, cables, however Scotland and Donaghadee in Northern During these years the submarine cables the external the Africa’s and the Far East. These cables Ireland. This being the first cable that laid between Ireland and Britain grew cable protection helping spread the tentacles of power remained the actually operated lead to the desire to with numerous landings at Blackwater, Co same. The and influence that would help shape the connect Europe to America, and so the Wexford; Howth, Co Dublin; Donaghadee, conductors societies and technological invention and were replaced idea that Ireland could connect to the US Co Down; Waterville, Co Cork; Cork with coaxial evolution across the globe and was aided came allot closer. Between 1857 with the Harbour, Co Cork; Whitehead, Co Antrim conductors. by the support from the Monarchy under first attempt to land the trans-Atlantic and Newcastle, Co Wicklow. These new Queen Victoria. cable to the successful attempt of 1866 links, 23 connections between 1852 and there was four attempts to land a cable. 1900, helped improve the communications

16 between 1900 However, there soon came a time and 1950. This when there was no more need for new increase in submarine cables as there was now capacity was capacity on the existing systems to cope needed to with the expansion of the communication cope with the web across the world. There was a slight increasing need decline just before World War II, but for information. during the war and after the war there As the world was an increase in the need to expand the was getting submarine cable systems to cater for the a smaller increase in communications and the need place, so was for increased capacity. The reason was the the available fact that the war enabled new innovations capacity and so in communications. These innovations Figure 4: The two cable route; As time went by, the engineering designs yet again the submarine cable had to step soon became standard telecom practice the current cable and the increased use of the telegraph in and meet the challenge that the increase and these soon replaced the existing route is the one for Scotland- helped make the world a smaller place. By in communication brought with it. The communication systems. The telephone NI-2 while the 1900, Ireland was communicating with the number of international submarine cables cable systems came into their own and previous cable route is the far corners of the world with information also increased in this period, as can be seen soon they could cope with the increased original cable being transmitted between people in in figure 2. capacity. The coaxial cable was perfect for between the same landing points minutes, when a mere thirty years earlier the new telephone circuits and it became Around 1921, the first coaxial cables (see first operationally it would take weeks if not months for the primary submarine cable design. connected in figure 3) came into use and these slowly 1853, there is 136 communications via the postal system to began to replace the copper conductor The expansion of communication networks years between the pass informatio. Now it was at light speed, two. cables that existed as the main design. and the increase capacity being offered by or telegraph speed. As soon as the 19th These coaxial cables catered for a lot more new submarine cable installations between century turned to the 20th century, there traffic, and with the aid of amplifiers they the 1950’s and the 1970’s continued along was a continuation in cable landings as the were capable of going longer distances with continued innovation in analogue older cables were abandoned due to age, with more calls per minute on the cable technology. The number of submarine cable damage and natural wear and tear. which allowed for the increase in traffic cables landed in Ireland, to meet the With another 17 cables landed in Ireland 17 without the increase in cable installation. increased development and communication Figure 5: A map needs fell to about 10 cables. Ireland was of the existing submarine cables in the middle of an industrial crisis, she connecting led the way in agricultural technological Ireland to the UK and the rest of the development while the rest of the world world. followed the industrial development route. Soon Ireland was being left behind. The available capacity in its submarine cable connections was more than enough to meet its communications needs.

However, during the late seventies there was a move towards digital communications. This was the start of the third communication revolution. 1 Analogue circuits were soon replaced 3 by digital circuits. The advantage of 2 4 digital communications over analogue 5 1 was obvious, the attenuation in signal 6 7 was lower, the increase in capacity and 8

1 9 ability to transmit more data and pack 10 more information into the signal was the 12 11 13 basis of a new communications model. 14 The invention of the personal computer, digital communications and faster speeds laid the foundation for a new industrial 15 and technological evolution that helped 17 most economies across the globe. Ireland 18 was no different, and soon over the next 16 twenty years she soon evolved into a nation 19 ready to meet any on the world stage. The

18 changing communication environment 1 also affected Ireland in a positive way. more capacity was evident. The existing Derek Cassidy is from Dublin, The lack of communication capacity operators upgraded their submarine cable Ireland. He has worked for 17 was evident, and in 1988 the first optical transmission systems to DWDM so that years in the telecommunications submarine cable laid between Ireland and systems could now carry 10G wavelengths industry, 15 of them dealing the UK was laid between Portmarnock, Co and so that, by changing the transmission with optical networks and 12 Dublin and Holyhead, Wales. It was a joint equipment, they could increase capacity years dealing with submarine networks. He venture between Telecom Eireann and BT without the need to install new submarine is currently leading the Optical Engineering and was a digital optical system. Another cables. However, this could not solve and Submarine technology areas which one was laid in 1989 between Donaghadee, all the problems and the need for more support BT Ireland and the wider BT Global Co Down and Portpatrick, Scotland. This submarine capacity grew. Along with the business. He is currently a member of the IET, followed more or less the same route as existing operational systems, new systems the first operational cable between Ireland were required and as late as last year the IEEE, Engineers Ireland, EOS & OSA and and the UK in 1853, see figure 4. The third Kelvin project was delivered by Hibernia has Degrees in Physics, Optical Engineering, submarine cable was laid between Girvan, Atlantic, delivering much needed Structural/Mechanical Engineering and Scotland and Larne, Co Antrim in 1993. bandwidth to Ireland via Northern Ireland. Engineering Design. He is currently studying Soon another submarine cable was laid in Other operators have also signalled their for his MEng and MSc. 1994 which was also around the same time intention to connect Ireland and the UK that Ireland began to evolve as a leading with new systems between 2010 and 2011, economy especially in the financial area. which will hopefully deliver Ireland out of the existing world financial crisis. As the Irish economy grew and developed along came the 21st century and with With this increased capacity, Ireland will it came the fourth communication soon be able to deliver its broadband revolution: broadband. The development promise and make the country a truly of broadband and its penetration into digital society. everybody’s lives meant that the need for

19 20 Linking AfricaNeed author pic To & bio The World Opportunities Provided By ICT Uptake Essential To Mobilising The Youth Of Africa

Figure 5: A map of the existing submarine cables connecting Ireland to the UK and the rest of the world.

Courtesy21 of Bran Herlihy SEACOM Courtesy of Tyco Telecommunications southern and eastern Africa through the sale of wholesale international capacity to global networks via India and Europe, is key to providing this access.

With an enormous capacity of 1.28 Tbps, SEACOM is the first cable to provide broadband to countries in east Africa. African retail carriers can now enjoy equal and open access to inexpensive bandwidth, removing the international infrastructure bottleneck and supporting economic growth. Within Africa, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya are inter-connected via a protected ring structure whilst additional express fibre pairs complete the network by linking into Marseille, France and Mumbai in India. SEACOM has also procured fibre capacity from Marseilles to London as part of the network.

Since SEACOM’s official launch on 23 July 2009, countries like Tanzania, Mozambique and Ethiopia have seen bandwidth supply grow by more than 1000% and 850% ith its unique set of infrastructure in Africa has lagged behind respectively, while bandwidth supply in challenges, connecting Africa developed economies, limiting access Kenya has grown by 700%. With more and Wto the rest of the world of African youth to global economic more countries getting connected to the provides an opportunity for submarine opportunities. SEACOM, a privately rest of the world via the SEACOM system, telecommunications experts. Long reliant funded and over three quarter African it is only a matter of time before we see on expensive satellites, Information and owned submarine fibre optic cable the direct socio-economic benefits this will 22 Communications Technologies (ICT) which assists communications carriers in have on the entire region. Courtesy of SEACOM

Africa is a continent where 50% of its our wildest dreams” is most likely to come in the global economy via the enablement population is under the age of 25, and it from a young African. of ICT linked opportunities will most is these younger generations that are born certainly see acceleration towards socio- However, it is the access to economic with an additional gene in their DNA make- economic development. participation that increased ICT uptake up which makes them ICT “programmed” spawns that will make the difference to Thus far, Africa has lagged behind - A special quality that lets any child pick a youth that is largely unemployed and other continents in terms of information up a piece of ICT equipment, sight unseen, with limited levels of education. Providing technology infrastructure and associated and have it working to its full potential broader access is a potential catalyst to bandwidth availability. SEACOM and within minutes. As the African youth unlocking sustainable economic and social other similar ventures will assist Africa to become accustomed to widely available development. By supporting a broad range meet its developmental needs through the connectivity and begin to contribute to the of stakeholders to develop, create growth provision of cheaper and widely available Web, the next programme that is “beyond 23 and promote the continent as a real player bandwidth. The reality is that increased access to bandwidth opens up a variety borne out of the Web. This is only the To this end, it is education, and of opportunities that were previously beginning, and we often forget that whilst partnerships with educational institutions unheard of. Worker productivity, businesses become more competitive that will unlock the value that increased healthcare, education, innovation and and inventive through readily available access to technology provides. SEACOM’s many other areas will be improved by the connectivity, it is the youth who will truly partnership with southern African introduction of true broadband. exploit the broadband and IP worlds. research and education networks through TENET (Tertiary Education and The tremendous growth in mobile Research Network of South Africa) will communications across the continent has “Africa’s development facilitate faster development by providing been a marker of Africans’ readiness to trajectory will be subsidised international bandwidth to use technology to improve their lives. Of research and education networks across course, in today’s world, ICT can only exponentially improved by 40 universities. These education and truly be exploited through the availability the provision of information research institutions have 50 times more of broadband to establish effective and super-highways and will no bandwidth for the same annual price they efficient international communications doubt form an important paid prior to the arrival of SEACOM. This systems. Words such as high definition bandwidth equals the amount available to TV, peer to peer networks, IPTV and real building block for Africa to the entire Southern African population in internet are not that far away... in fact, it build upon. Accessibility 2008. can be a reality subject to one requirement has been the single biggest - the availability of affordable and plentiful stumbling block to creating TENET owns the capacity for the bandwidth. this reality. Yet with the remaining life of the cable, resulting in substantial annual savings whilst enabling Through the provision of plentiful benefits of the SEACOM the affiliated institutions to develop bandwidth at a fraction of the previous cost, cable, everyone can have and increase their international research SEACOM has opened up unprecedented collaborations and distance learning opportunities for governments, businesses access to the world at their programmes. SEACOM is also replicating and ordinary citizens to compete globally, fingertips, particularly the this programme in East Africa and has drive economic growth and enhance the youth who are hungry for already donated a STM-1 of capacity quality of life across the continent. tools to economic mobility”, (155Mbps) to the University of Dar Es Change brings about opportunities. The says Brian Herlihy, CEO Salaam and hopes to provide capacity to world has already witnessed the dramatic of SEACOM. another 60 plus research and educational and countless life-altering developments institutes at a discounted rate. 24 SEACOM’s achievements show that, with an enabling environment, the private sector can mobilise the resources required to deliver complex and expansive projects Partnerships are key to SEACOM’s to be felt across the continent. In September for the benefit of the African people. The continued success. Not only does the cable 2009, MTN announced a 50% increase in SEACOM cable will change the lives link Africa to the world, but within Africa, capacity for certain corporate clients in of every man, woman and child in the local service providers are the link to inter- South Africa while Telkom also announced countries connected by making previously country facilitation. SEACOM is using its similar increases. More recently, on March unavailable technology accessible to subsidiaries and local partners in each 18 2010, MWeb a South African ‘Internet everyone. country, who are licensed and established Services Provider’ (ISP) launched a new Biography to carry communication infrastructure, to uncapped ADSL offering for businesses Bran Herlihy has establish backhaul solutions/ last mile land- and consumers which is 40% cheaper than extensive experience in based fibre infrastructure, into landlocked anything previously available, providing megainfrastructure projects in countries. By way of example, Altech, a South Africans with unlimited internet Africa spanning a number of disciplines including project South African based telecommunications access. In Kenya, Safaricom and other Bran Herlihy, CEO of SEACOM Herlihy development, has extensive experience financing in mega­infrastructure and projects governmental in Africa spanning a number of company operating in East Africa and Kenyan mobile operators have seen a disciplines including project development, financing and governmental liaison supported by a strong understanding of Aliaisonfrican economics. supported by a strong understanding SEACOM have taken a giant step towards dramatic increase in 3G demand. In An American citizen, his career began in the UK in 1994 in the health waste sector before joining the Bank of of America African as a Marketing economics. Analyst in 1997. From An 1999 American to 2003, he worked citizen, on the Africa ONE unlocking this enormous potential. The Tanzania, TTCL announced in October project where he gained valuable African experience. In 2003 he was appointed Vice President of Development at Global Alumina, a large alumina refinery project in the Republic of Guinea before being his career began in the UK in 1994 in the success of SEACOM would not be possible 2009 that its internet prices were going appointed President of SEACOM, responsible for overseeing the fiber optic undersea cable project at the end of 2006. health waste sector before joining the Bank without infrastructure which links their down by as much as 65%. He holds a MSc (Development Studies) and BA (Economics and Philosophy) from the London School of Economics and Boston College respectivelyof America as a Marketing. Analyst in 1997. beach landing stations to metropolitan In addition to the pricing impacts of From 1999 to 2003, he worked on the Africa PoPs (Point of Presence). KDN’s extensive SEACOM, national carriers have realised that ONE project where he gained valuable African inland infrastructure in East Africa will they have to upgrade their networks to move experience. In 2003 he was appointed Vice link their landing station in Mombasa to large amounts of bandwidth. For example, President of Development at Global Alumina, Nairobi, and onward to Kampala and Kenya is building three different national a large alumina refinery project in the Republic Kigali. Connecting Ethiopia is based on the networks, South Africa is developing four of Guinea before being appointed President of same principle, and they will continue to national networks, and the government of SEACOM, responsible for overseeing the fiber connect additional landlocked countries. Rwanda is rolling out huge fibre networks optic undersea cable project at the end of 2006. The impacts of SEACOM’s affordable throughout the country. Ethiopia is now also 25 broadband pricing are already beginning following the same path.

The 40G Undersea Market Heats Up

Harald Bock

27 & Joe Capasso analyst firm Infonetics, which expects that by 2011 there will be 4.4 billion mobile telephone users, more than 470 million broadband subscribers and an estimated 90 million IPTV users, all of whom need a robust transport network to accommodate data needs.

With a majority of optical backbones and metro core networks running at 10G channel line rates, operators increasingly feel the need to shift to 40G networks. However, adding new fiber is a very expensive and time-consuming option. This reality has been one of the roadblocks to a smooth migration from 10G to 40G in the past.

Now, faced with exploding bandwidth demand, operators must evaluate and plan for 40G deployments. Despite its higher cost relative to 10G, 40G 1 Ovum. “Global 40G/100G market update: 2H09” he 40G market is taking off, with Fueling the market is the demand for provides networking benefits relative to much of the action happening higher bandwidth, a rising proportion administering – and managing – multiple within the undersea segment. of data traffic and operators’ transitions 10G streams. In addition, there have been T 1 According to analyst firm Ovum , network to all-IP networks. Increasing usage of innovations in this space to keep rising operators spent nearly $391 million smart devices and bandwidth-hungry costs in check. One change has been the deploying the technology, representing a applications, such as video on demand adoption of technology used in terrestrial 69 percent increase through the first half of and IPTV, as well as the sheer number of systems for upgrading the transponders 2009 versus full-year 2008. Going forward, subscribers, are just a few of the irreversible in undersea links. This has significantly this growth will only continue, as Ovum trends that are creating severe capacity driven down costs and made the market expects the 40/100G market volume to constraints on existing optical networks. for undersea line termination equipment rise 79 percent annually through 2014. Corroborating this growth story is the 28 more competitive. Admittedly, installation of submarine fiber the undersea line termination equipment want to reuse existing installations and cables is a significant investment, with high at the ends of the links to higher line rates. power feeds while making the move to 40G. costs for equipment and installation using This enables operators to make optimum The optimal option is to upgrade, rather fiber-laying ships. The costs for undersea use of the investment into the undersea than build anew. While considering an applications by far surpass the budget fiber plant. upgrade, carriers have different strategies required for a terrestrial application. For that, in turn, dictate different technology this reason, upgrades of undersea capacity Carriers continue to be guided by the need options. Either way, whether the plan is to can be done economically by upgrading to protect their investments in 10G and keep 10G channels running alongside 40G

29 or upgrading 10G sequentially the fiber measurement required to 40G, the idea is to minimize previously. disruptions in traffic and leverage the embedded infrastructure. Besides this challenge, which is caused by the new line rate itself, the One challenge of increasing performance of the 40G channels can channel line rates is the distortions be impacted if the operator wants a channel experiences when to simultaneously run existing 10G transmitted through a fiber over channels. This effect needs to be long distances (i.e. thousands mitigated by the choice of a suitable of kilometers) unrepeated. As 40G modulation format or other the speed increases by a factor measures, such as a larger wavelength of four, so do these distortions. gap between 10G and 40G channels. In the past, this has necessitated For upgrades from 40G to 100G, this putting Dispersion Compensating effect is not present because 40G and Modules (DCMs) at the beginning 100G use similar modulation schemes. and end of each link, often for different bands of wavelengths or Nokia Siemens Networks is ready even each individual channel – a to meet the network technology highly inconvenient option. growth needs with a new solution: its SURPASS hiT 7300 40G coherent The industry, however, has much detection transponder. This latest to look forward to. Currently, addition to the 40G product portfolio advanced transmission formats supports 40G transmission over based on coherent detection are fiber dating back to the 1980’s and becoming available, enabling earlier. It fully utilizes the built- operators to install 40G up capacity, protecting operators’ transmission systems without initial investments. In addition, the the costly and time-consuming transponder is seamlessly integrated optimization of dispersion into Nokia Siemens Networks’ hiT compensation at the beginning 7300 dense wavelength division

30 and end of the link, as well as multiplexing (DWDM) portfolio and will be available for trials in the third into Nokia Siemens Networks’ SURPASS it is a packet-based circuit (MPLS-TP) or quarter of 2010. hiT 7300 DWDM platform to create a frame-based circuit (OTN). single network element that fills the gap Another development in this space is that between optical layer switching and other GMPLS also will assist in operations, undersea cable links increasingly require existing switching platforms. Generalized administration and maintenance of switching compatibility with terrestrial multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS), individual circuits on both platforms systems. With the rising proportion of which currently is being used in Nokia and provide provisioning automation, data traffic, the landing site equipment Siemens Networks’ next-generation protection and resiliency in a combined requirements can range from Internet products, will also become part of a single multi-layer network. As an example a switches and routers to optical switching control plane encompassing hiT 7300 and gigabit Ethernet (GbE) service originating and modems. hiT 7100 products. on an access hiT 7300 shelf will be routed to a hub location where the GbE circuit Nokia Siemens Networks’ latest addition Carriers continue will be channelized into a higher order to its optical portfolio, the hiT 7100 OTN optical data unit at the hiT 7300, which will switch, also targets this space. Offering to be guided by the generate a label switched path transported multiple benefits to operators, including need to protect their over a hiT 7300 long-haul network and efficient usage of network resources, multi- investments in 10G and dropped off to an access node at another service support with a single platform, location. smooth network migration through want to reuse existing support of SDH/SONET switching and installations and power All of this end-to-end provisioning will interfaces and enhanced Ethernet and occur automatically over the hiT 7300 and packet/Multiprotocol Label Switching feeds while making the hiT 7100 via GMPLS tunnels. Each node (MPLS) functionality, the scalable switch move to 40G. in the GMPLS network will be aware of supports capacity from 1.2 Tera bytes per every other node and all of the traffic that second (Tbps) up to 24 Tbps with the hiT In conjunction with a data control plane is running between them. GMPLS extends 7100 switch granularity at ODU0. With using a multiprotocol label switching signaling and routing in a frame-based this capacity, it is well-suited to support transport profile (MPLS-TP), and the network and the hiT 7300 and hiT 7100 the increasing capacity requirements at optical data unit control plane, GMPLS systems will use this protocol efficiently, the landing sites of undersea installations. will mesh a seamless network of services since Nokia Siemens Networks’ GMPLS generating OPEX and CAPEX savings for control plane and data plane are technology Operators can achieve significant savings the customer. GMPLS will provide ease in and bit-rate agnostic. The OTN switch

31 through the integration of the hiT 7100 end-to-end set up of connections, whether and the DWDM system common control plane will generate alternate paths in case positioned to ride the 40G wave to be a Harald Bock works in of failures on a working path. Switching driving a force in building the ecosystem Product Management Optical will occur in milliseconds, assisting the for 100G technology. Networks for Nokia Siemens customer with significant savings both Networks. Since receiving his from a time and money perspective. In addition, the company can leverage PHD in Physics in 1998, he technology from its commercially available has held positions in optical While the industry is witnessing mass 40G solution to upgrade to 100G without engineering, system design as well as sales of scale deployments of 40G, some experts a major network reinvestment, helping transport network products. Harald Bock has say we are not far away from 100G either. operators get a jump start in the 100G been working for NSN since 2007. However, as Ovum suggests, 40G is a market, too. No matter how you look at it, necessary stepping stone to 100G. In fact, Nokia Siemens Networks is committed to Joe Capasso is a solutions the transition from 10G to 40G simplifies deliver the highest capacity connectivity manager with Nokia Siemens the future execution of 100G line rates. to a demanding customer base. Networks based in Iselin, NJ. He has more than 20 Against this backdrop, Nokia Siemens End-user demand for bandwidth will years of experience in the Networks finds itself in an advantageous only continue to rise, making operators’ optical communications field, position. With a 30 percent share of the need to upgrade their networks to 40G including R&D and product management 40G unit line card shipments market for and beyond essential. For this reason, roles for both terrestrial and undersea fiber the 3Q08-2Q09 period, the company is now is the time to evaluate network needs optic transmission systems. already reaping the benefits of an early and begin planning to upgrade. This start in the technology. It started 40G advance planning will ensure operators’ research in the 1990’s, was the first vendor ability to provide their customers with to undertake a mass rollout of optical 40G the experiences they seek, before capacity technology as early as 2006 and is well demands reach a boiling point.

32 Back Reflection by Stewart Ash & Kaori Shikinaka The Optical Era by Japanese companies, they included OCC cable factured equipment for these segments comprised Japanese Submarine Cables Part 3 containing 6 single mode fibres (Seg AC 2,220km; OCC cable, repeaters of Fujitsu and NEC, and a Seg BC 1,531km) as well as Fujitsu and NEC number of Mitsubishi repeater amplifier units in Japan consists of four large islands, Honshu, the repeaters, operating at 1,310nm, 280Mb/s with a OCC housings; the terminal equipment was sup- main land, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku along Line Code 24B1F. plied by Fujitsu, NEC and Toshiba. with around 4,000 smaller islands. Because of this, submarine cables play an important role in Japan’s In 1992, repeater development in Japan moved By the mid 1990’s Japan was a leading supplier of domestic telecommunication infrastructure. from regenerating technology to optical amplifi- submarine optical fibre technology, a position it has Therefore, it was not surprising that Japan became cation. Deep (6,000m) water sea trials of the new maintained through the development of 10Gbit/s the first country in the world to implement repeater designs were carried out before they went line rates, WDM and DWDM technologies up to submarine fibre technology commercially. By into full production. The first optical amplified the present day. This was further demonstrated at connecting optical fibre submarine cables to optical submarine system to go into commercial service, SubOptic 2010 by presentations on the emerging fibre land cables, it quickly built up a backbone anywhere in the world, was a 900km domestic 40Gbit/s and 100GBits/s coherent technology. network which stretched 4,500km from Asahikawa linking Kagoshima in Kyushu with Okinawa. This Clearly, Japan has been a major pioneer in the in Hokkaido to Okinawa in the South. system owned by NTT, commenced manufacture development of fibre optic submarine cable systems in 1994 and was completed in 1995. and remains a major influence in the development The first commercial, repeatered, optical submarine of our industry today. Fujitsu and NEC, along with system deployed anywhere in the world was a The first international optical amplified system in OCC, remain among the world’s leading suppliers Japanese domestic system owned by NTT. FS-400M the world was the long haul system TPC-5 and the of submarine systems; KDDI and the NTT group was 300km long and was laid in 1986 by Kuroshio Japanese industry played a significant part in its are unquestionably influential system operators, Maru between Hachinohe and Tomakomai, thus construction. TPC-5 is a ring system connecting and KCS and NTT WEM are leading marine service connecting Honshu and Hokkaido. The OCC Japan, North America, Hawaii and Guam. The lay- providers. In addition, our industry has benefited supplied cable contained 6 single mode fibres and ing operation commenced in November 1993 with greatly from the technological innovation and the system contained 7 NEC Repeaters; operating the landing of the cable in Ninomiya Japan. The to- products provided by such companies as Fujikura, at 1,310nm, 400Mb/s; 445.837mB and a Line Code tal system length was some 24,500km and the final Furukawa, Hitachi and Sumitomo. One hundred 10B1C RZ. The PFE was double end feed @ 1.8A. splice was not completed until August 1996. KD- and forty years on from its first exposure to DI-SCS laid Segments T2 (Ninomiya – Miyazaki), submarine cables, Japan is critical to the future of The first international repeatered system involving Segment I (Miyazaki – Guam) and part of Segment the submarine cable industry. Japanese technology was TPC – 3, which was J (Ninomiya - Bandon), a total of 5,900km. These installed in 1988 and went into service in 1989. were completed in October 1994, February 1995 33 Segments AC and BC of the system were supplied and May 1996 respectively. The Japanese manu- Subsea Capacity Issues Between China and U.S.

Xu Yewei

34& Zhu Hongda sfsdfsd sdfsdfds

n recently years, globalization and and more secured submarine system has month for all services fully recovered. The emerging technology led to an been aggravated along with the integration earthquake didn’t cause fatal problems to Iexplosive spread of Internet with to global networking. international communications during the presence of media, finance, politics, holiday season; however, the earthquake On December 26, 2006, two consecutive etc. Driven by the radical change of did give a remarkable alert to Asian earthquakes with a preliminary magnitude international telecommunication business, telecommunication industry that had of 7.0 and centered about 10 miles (15 the construction of submarine system been over dependent on sole information kilometers) south of Taiwan caused has again entered a rapid growth stage. source since long. the severance of key submarine cables. Especially for China, as a key player in By cutting over interrupted circuits to In 2008, Typhoon MoraKot battered global economy and with 20.8% of world’s unaffected submarine, it took more than a Taiwan. Six submarine cables, including 35 Internet users, the need of higher capacity SMW3, APCN, APCN2, EAC, C2C and destruction on submarine cable systems by FNAL/RNAL were damaged. 100G earthquakes, typhoons and other natural bandwidth gap of connections in between disasters. China, U.S. and Europe was generated due In 2006, six operators including China to the fracture of submarine cables. On Telecom and China Unicom signed an August 17, a large scale of users reported agreement to jointly invest 500 million U.S. problems of failure to log on MSN (instant dollars to build a direct Trans-Pacific cable messaging software). Meanwhile, Yahoo system (TPE) between China and U.S. The and other foreign websites also appeared to project completed before the 2008 Beijing have a slower access speed. A large amount Olympic Games. It has now become an of Private IP and Private Line customers important communication between the U.S. with traffic between the United States and and arteries. China Unicom expanded the China suffered unexpected interruption as EAC submarine cable to Qingdao landing a result of the submarine fracture. station, which made Qingdao become Before year 2008, China connected the only major international submarine to the world mainly through SMW3, cable landing station in northern China. CUCN, APCN2, EAC and FNAL/RNAL It not only shortened the latency of the submarine systems at Beijing, Shanghai, international submarine cable circuits, but Guangzhou and Hong Kong. also provided the physical route diversity of the submarine cable landing to avoid Before TPE was put into service, other nature disasters. Qingdao landing station than CUCN, the majority of the submarine has successfully completed important cable systems between China and the U.S. international communication tasks for the were first through Asia-Pacific systems, 2008 Olympic Games. In the meantime, such as APCN2 and EAC, inter-connected Asia Netcom and PacficCrossing also at Japan, and then through Trans-Pacific made investments to expand and upgrade systems, such as PC1 and Japan US, to their submarine systems. the U.S. This kind of network will cause long latency, and at the same time, the All international carriers are expected to similar routes also led to catastrophic achieve diversity route of international 36 communications for maximum security by of submarine system design includes Xu Yewei is the Director of adjusting their submarine cable networks. three aspects, a self-protected network; Technical Support & Network The investment in construction of QoS based exigency instructions; and Operation for China Unicom submarine cables has been more cautious International carrier cooperation. Americas. She began working after recent Taiwan earthquakes. Taiwan’s Self-protected Network. Rational in communications filed in 1997 after status in the international submarine allocation of submarine resources to vest graduated from Xidian University. Served as cables has been gradually weakened. The the network with capability to restore senior project manager for the international major submarine cable operators have affected business circuits by using backup diversified routes to avoid earthquake communications network construction in channels when there is an emergency zone, including Taiwan. Meanwhile, China Netcom since 2000. Led and participated caused by submarine system. cable operators in the Pacific are gradually in many international network projects such as building the transition from ring to mesh. QoS based exigency instructions. When building China Netcom International Gateway For international communication network there is an exigency, carriers should and C2C submarine cable Nanhui landing security, changing a single submarine provide protections for the most important station. Currently in charge of China Unicom cable transmission to multi-directional business circuits based on QoS hierarchy. Americas network construction, optimization and multi-channel is necessary. International carrier cooperation. and daily maintenance. With the fact that submarine resource Cooperate with foreign carrier for purchase Zhu Hongda is Engineer of is getting richer and richer, products and replacement of submarine resources as of international telecommunication are a temporary measure to dispatch exigency. Technical Support & Network being diversified while not compromising Operation for China Unicom on quality. To bring a more secured Americas. He holds an MBA communication network, multi-routing from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bachelor turns to be the best approach of hedging of Electronic Engineering from Shanghai risk from unexpected interruptions; while, Jiao Tong University; currently serving as route optimization can lower latency, which is requested by financial industry Network Engineer at China Unicom. for synchronized data services. At this point, carriers should be more focused on resource allocation and instructions 37 for exigency. The general approach Feed The Need: The Explosive Demand For Undersea Technologies!

he arrival of the SEACOM cable gave us just a taste of the possibilities presented by sub-optic cables. But are you aware Tof what is happening in the African submarine sector? How will you ensure that your strategies are effective enough to ensure the long term survival of your business? Many businesses are unsure if they will be able to keep up with the demand for capacity at a low price.

Does your sub-optic strategy lack spark? You need to know that the strategies you have in place are effective enough to pull you through the boom and bust cycles when the excitement about connectivity wanes. If you do this, you will ensure your company’s long term growth.

Do you need ideas and case studies to learn from? We have assembled speakers from major players including Seacom, WIOCC, Dark Fibre Africa, Orange, France, Neotel, Kenya Data Networks and the Main One Cable Company to help you attain success.

If you answered yes to any of these questions you need to be at Submarine Networks World Africa 2010. Put your company on centre stage at Submarine Networks World Africa! Act now or you will lose out on this fantastic business opportunity. We have the 38 solution for you. Register now for Submarine Networks picture event uniquely concerned with make a difference to your organisation’s World Africa 2010 by going to www. providing insight into how to capitalise bottom line & grow your customer base terrapinn.com/2010/submarineza. on the abundant opportunities in Africa’s 5. Tap into the growing opportunities emerging market. presented by the sub-optics sector Imagine what you could do for your business if you are there. Imagine what Five reasons why you’ll benefit from Hear from industry leaders and get ahead MORE you could achieve if your whole being there: from the insight provided by: team is there! 1. Discover the latest innovations in the • Olivier Noele, Sector Lead: Information The world is so excited about Africa’s sub-optics sector, helping you improve & Communication Technologies, potential. Grab your opportunity to your profits International Finance Corporation, capitalise on the interest in Africa. 2. Get ahead using the knowledge on the South Africa Undersea cables have introduced an latest trends and growth opportunities • Raynald Leconte, President: France exciting new era. Learn from the successful in the African continent Telecom Marine, Orange, France industry leaders at this conference and 3. Align your company with the world’s ride your wave of opportunity. Submarine • Chris Wood, CEO, West Indian Ocean best & expand your market Networks World Africa 2010 is the big Cable Company (WIOCC), Kenya 39 4. Network with the people who will • Aidan Baigrie, Head of Business Development, Seacom, Mauritius • Taj Onigbanjo, Head of Middle East & Africa, Cable & Wireless, United Kingdom • Diarmid Massey, Vice President of Carrier Sales, Cable & Wireless, United Kingdom • Thierry Tomiet, Regional Director: Middle East & Africa, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Italy • Annie Kithima, Head of International Relations, Vodacom, Democratic Republic of Congo • Kai Wulff, CEO, Kenya Data Networks, Kenya This is where you’ll learn from the success of others – and from their failures too! We are dedicated to providing answers to the challenges you face. Uncover the solutions for growth and development for your business, while you network and gain insight from our industry speakers.

Act now or lose this business opportunity.

Register online at www.terrapinn.com/2010/ submarineza to secure your seat. Also follow event updates on Twitter http://twitter.com/ submarineworld We look forward to meeting you at Africa’s premier sub-optics conference. Book your space early and save up to R3898! For more information visit www.terrapinn.com/2010/ submarineza

40 Lowest Latency Connectivity To South America Takes Center Stage

41 Erick Contag outh America is becoming a hot, emerging financial marketplace, and on course for even more growth in the near-term future. SThe region has an expansive geographical footprint, densely populated in many areas. More so, it’s home to an active financial trading community, now gaining traction for global investors.

In May 2008, the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) and the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange (BM&F) merged, creating BM&F Bovespa. According to the company, the merger created one of the largest exchanges in the world in terms of market value, the second largest in the Americas, and the leading exchange in Latin America. Today it is the world’s third largest stock exchange with offices in New York, Shanghai and London and fourth largest exchange in the Americas in terms of market capitalization.

Notably, since the merger in 2008, the stock market has had quite a volatile run – until recently. In early 2010, the stock market’s recovery inspired companies to reconsider how they conduct business. With more dependency on technology, particularly for trading transactions and connectivity to global exchanges, global financial institutions must become savvier about how they buy their network connectivity. They can no longer base buying decisions solely on getting from A to Z at a low cost. Financial companies must seek network providers that can offer quality, low latency and redundant connections – ensuring their financial transactions will be processed with the speed and accuracy demanded by their business.

Increased Bandwidth Demand; Increased Carrier Opportunities Not only is Brazil an emerging financial market, according to Mercopress.com, the Brazilian economy as a whole is expected to 42 grow 6.1% due to a large number of global organizations setting up offices in the region. As a result the international data solutions required to connect these offices is expected to grow 70% through 2014.

With exchanges like BM&F Bovespa in São Paulo taking center stage, more banks and brokerages are migrating south for global trading requiring telecom carriers specialized in the support of financial transactions. To be competitive carriers need to be able to offer unique solutions to interconnect their customers’ offices in São Paulo, to major metropolitan cities in North America like New York, Chicago and Toronto.

Given the growth opportunities, international carriers must understand the requirements of the financial organizations and offer the lowest latency services, as the speed of data communications services can mean millions – gained or lost for their customers. 43 Think Beyond Price latency issues could negatively impact attracted to the region – driving more data Often times, carriers make buying network the overall business and ultimately loose communication requirements between service decisions solely based on price. far more money than that of the original Brazil and the rest of the world. However, Many carriers and end users assume that circuit costs. there are still a finite number of providers ‘all networks are created equal’ – that low that can provide high quality, low latency latency and reliability are a given in this Selecting the Right Network for Mission connectivity between North America and market, and ultimately the difference from Critical Communications South America, particularly required by one network provider to another is simply In 2010, 33 companies headquartered the global financial community. With the price of the service. Often for a fraction in Brazil appeared on the Forbes top BM&F Bovespa as the third largest of the cost more, financial networks could 2000 global company list (www.forbes. financial exchange in the world, low be transacting trades via a faster, low com). This is a strong indicator of the latency connectivity to the region is critical. latency data pipe, increasing their overall region’s ability to sustain global business The ability to transact stocks in real time is profit margins and directly impacting their development, a trend that GlobeNet, an an absolute necessity for global financial core business. international wholesale carrier offering institutions. connectivity between North and South Simply stated, it’s not just the price, it’s the America, has anticipated by investing in GlobeNet offers both a regional know- quality, route, redundancy and of course, a seamless solution of Clear Channel Data how and global connectivity. As a high- the lowest latency. Carriers and end users providing low latency connectivity of less availability (default of 99.99%), low latency opting for the lowest cost provider could than115ms between BM&F Bovespa in São submarine cable network provider between end up paying more in the long-run, Paulo, Brazil to Wall Street in New York United States, Bermuda, Brazil, Venezuela, particularly if low latency is not a key factor City, USA. Additionally, the company is and now Colombia, GlobeNet offers an in their decision process. When working launching its international IP network in optimal solution for carriers assuring with network providers on mission critical Q3 and will offer the most comprehensive secure connectivity for its carrier clients’ communications like financial trading, IP network for point-to-point VPN in more mission-critical business operations. carries should ask the service provider than 20 cities of Brazil. to offer proof of the network latency Since 2002, the GlobeNet system has not from point to point. Although many Global companies require secure had a subsea cable outage. This is an organizations are still feeling the effects of international data solutions. With a incredible statistic that highlights the a down economy, the potential money lost healthy, burgeoning economy in Brazil, company’s diligent and proactive servicing on such transactions because of potential companies are growing and businesses are and maintenance of its submarine cables 44 and its dedication to high performance or breaks a trading house, especially in Erick Contag brings over networking. It is this critical reliability today’s global financial climate. As South 20 years of sales, marketing, that financial networks require from its America steps into center page, and as business development, carrier vendors. carriers become more competitive to bid strategy and corporate for financial network services, especially management expertise to GlobeNet’s network enables global heading south, carriers must partner with a GlobeNet, a wholly owned subsidiary of the companies to connect to key global provider that offers lower latency routing, Oi (formerly Brasil Telecom), that provides markets, such as BM&F Bovespa in São 99.99% reliability, a regional know-how the lowest latency, international capacity Paulo. The submarine network availability and all the right global connections. services to the Americas. Mr. Contag has been measures upwards of 99.99%. And for responsible for managing C-level relationships companies that require connectivity to and telecommunications/high-technology some of the world’s leading financial projects for start-up enterprises through large exchanges, guaranteed round-trip latency multi-national and Global 100 companies. He is also provided. has proven success in starting, building, and turn-around of high-tech businesses. In many cases, it is the latency that makes

On Issue #50

Wayne, Hello Wayne,

CONGRATULATIONS on the Just a short note of 50th – I can’t wait to congratulation on the 50th congratulate you on the issue – well done. Look 100th. Perhaps I’ll see forward to seeing you at you at SubOptic! SubOptic.

Best regards, Best Wishes Nicholas Koopalethes Nigel Bayliff

45 46 International Cable Protection Committee 1-3 June 2010 Mauritius Conferences www.iscpc.org Submarine Networks World Africa 2010 12-15 July 2010 Johannesburg, South Africa www.terrapinn.com/2010/submarineza/

Submarine Networks World 2010 12-14 October 2010 Singapore www.terrapinn.com/2010/submarine/

Offshore Communications World 28-29 September 2010 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia www.terrapinn.com/2010/ofc/

Pacific Telecommunications Council 16-19 January 2011 Honolulu, Hawaii www.ptc.org

47 Letter to my Japanese friend, thought comes to me from a book I read several times in English with great pleasure: Snow Country by Yasunari Letter to a I am writing you just before my trip to your country for Kawabata. With pleasure, but with the strange feeling SubOptic 2010, and I feel excited! My target is nothing less that what needs to be understood is not obvious, but is than to finally understand these "inscrutable Japanese." somewhere between the lines. Snow country refers to the Friend I have spent a good part of my professional life dealing western part of Japans’ central mountains–the snowiest with Japan while trying to find the key of the mystery. region in the world. It suggests life divorced from time This is probably my last chance. If Yokohama brings me through the long snowbound months. The author is in the light I am looking for, I’ll let you know. the line of the haiku masters, these tiny seventeen-syllable poems that seek to convey a sudden awareness of beauty Why doesn't Japan play more globally in the submarine by a mating of opposite or incongruous terms. He keeps cable business? During the past 20 years, ASN and Tyco mixing motion and stillness such as "the roaring silence captured the lion share (80%) of the business, leaving a of a winter night." meager portion to the Japanese industry. This is despite some very good cards in hands: a great submarine I got it! The Japanese submarine cable industry is living cable history, a favorable geographical position, first in the "snow country," addressing the global market in a class technology, good companies, dedicated people, "slow rush," being satisfied with a "meager abundance." a highly populated and wealthy region, and an Asia- centric market. As soon as a project is a bit far away from I look forward to the key-note speech by the honorary Dr. their islands, the Japanese suppliers are either absent or Yoshio Utsumi, whose title attracted my attention "The unaggressive. Even in Asia-Pacific, they often show-up in inscrutable Japanese." I am reading in the SubOptic consortium or as subcontractor. This remark also applies program, "It is often difficult for foreigners to understand to the Japanese operators who do not seem to have global Japanese people and society, without first having a basic ambitions. Everybody is actively involved in Africa at knowledge of Japan and its culture…The submarine this moment, but not the Japanese. cable telecom business, have players from many diverse cultural, political, and ethnic backgrounds. So it is hoped I've often told you, my friend, that Japan should work that Mr. Utsumi’s presentation will not only be interesting out a single supplier solution in order to compete on and stimulating, but it may help some participants to equal footing against ASN and Tyco. The NEC-Fujitsu adapt their approach in international business to achieve competition seems to concentrate all their efforts, energy greater success.” and attention. Like all family conflicts, such situations shift rapidly from "brotherly" to "fratricide!" And the My dear friend, I sincerely hope that Dr. Utsumi will "others" only need to play with this situation, bringing explain to you how you should "adapt your approach of their own fuel to the fire. You did agree that this domestic the international business to achieve greater success." competition was detrimental to Japan, but you keep telling me that there is no solution.

There are probably deeper factors behind this, and the probably lies somewhere in the Japanese culture. Japan is an island subject to heavy storms, earthquakes and other natural threats. Success is never sure, and tomorrow can be p.s. Yokohama May 15–Mr. Utsumi confirmed that the worse. Everything is fragile and ephemeral, so the priority Japanese culture is the root of the problem. Japan needs to is to survive in "my" little field of rice! "Asu no hyaku find a way to be competitive in this time of globalisation, yori, kyou ga fuku," similar to the French saying "Un tiens but it is going to be extremely difficult. vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras." In other words, "better 48 50 today than 100 tomorrow." Is that an A more subtle by Jean Devos Advertisers Index ISSN 1948-3031 Issue Themes: Global Marine Systems www.globalmarinesystems.com 20

January: Regional Outlook GlobeNet www.globenet.net 43 March: Finance & Legal Huawei Marine Networks www.huaweimarine.com 6 May: Subsea Capacity Nexans www.nexans.com 26 July: Subsea Technology September: Offshore Energy OFS www.ofsoptics.com 4 November: Defense & Non-traditional Submarine Networks World Africa www.terrapinn.com/2010/submarineza/ Cable Systems 40 Advertising enquiries: WFN Strategies www.wfnstrategies.com 46

Sales Coordinator Xtera www.xtera.com 13 Kristian Nielsen Tel: +1 (703) 444-0845 Email: [email protected]

Sales Representative, Europe & AFRICA Wilhelm Sicking Tel: 0201-779861 Email: [email protected]

Sales Representative, North & Central America Ben Skidmore Tel: +1 (972) 587-9064 Email: [email protected] Episode 5: Global Marine Systems Sales Representative, Asia Pacific Michael Yee Tel: +65 9616 8080 LISTEN TO US ON iTUNES Email: [email protected] KEYWORD: SUBTEL FORUM 49 Copyright © 2010 WFN Strategies by Kevin G. Summers

y entire staff is in Japan Once everything had arrived, then came Did you attend SubOptic? If so, have attending SubOptic 2010, and the collating, inserting, packaging, and my you been able to solve the wire puzzle Mhere I am back in Virginia, personal favorite: trying to figure out how we placed in the attendee bags? Did you finalizing SubTel Forum #51 and taking to transport all this stuff to Yokohama. drop your card at our booth an register to care of my pregnant wife. It's been quite Should we ship it and risk our materials win an iPod Touch? The winner will be a couple of weeks leading up to the getting caught up in Customs? Or should announced in Issue #52 in July. conference, and in spite of the looming we load down our engineers with 75 lbs of deadline for this issue, it's nice to slow marketing materials apiece? As I watched As always, thanks for reading SubTel down just a bit. Guy Arnos cramming closed the lid of a Forum. Because of our readers, we can We spent several suitcase, I knew we made the right choice. proudly proclaim the we are the Voice of Congratulations weeks preparing the Industry. to Brian Fenton who won an iPod Touch, our marketing We only had one item get lost in transit: a and to Chris Butler, Takalani Tshivhase, materials for SubTel Forum pop-up banner. I wish you and Fabian Vergara who won iTunes gift SubOptic. Can could have seen it; it was a great banner, cards after completing our spring survey anyone else possibly the most eye catching banner relate to that? of all-time. Unfortunately, the airline The brochures had to be printed, the misplaced it. Maybe we should have artwork for the displays finalized, the shipped everything afterall. posters sent to the sign shop, and finally the swag had to be ordered.

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