Regional Systems Issue 26 May 2006 Submarine Telecoms Forum is published bi-monthly by WFN Strategies, L.L.C. The publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, without the ExordiumWelcome to the May 2006, 26th issue of Submarine Telecoms Forum, our Regional permission of the publishers. Systems edition. Submarine Telecoms Forum is an independent com- mercial publication, serving as a freely accessible forum for My original Scuba diving certification was accomplished some 30 plus years ago, and professionals in industries connected with submarine optical it wasn’t until recently that I decided to upgrade it to the next level. Not that I had any fibre technologies and techniques. extra time to burn; but it just seemed like the right time to “confirm” the skills I had been Liability: while every care is taken in preparation of this using for all those years. Anybody can dive the tropics, but only the fanatical few dive a publication, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the frigid Virginia quarry in April. accuracy of the information herein, or any errors which may occur in advertising or editorial content, or any consequence We have, once again, some excellent articles for you, the fanatical few of the telecoms arising from any errors or omissions. industry. The publisher cannot be held responsible for any views Alan Robinson discusses SubOptic 2007, as well as the future of Apollo and Gemini expressed by contributors, and the editor reserves the right cable systems. Georges Krebs gives his view of the evolving submarine cable market, to edit any advertising or editorial material submitted for publication. while Julian Rawle outlines potential trends for the Atlantic market. Douglas Burnett describes the importance of the UN Law of the Sea Convention to submarine cables, © WFN Strategies L.L.C., 2006 as Virginia Hoffman assesses logistics for regional system installations. Debra Brask Contributions are welcomed. Please forward to the describes methods for improving time to market and reducing project risk. Jean Devos Managing Editor: Wayne F. Nielsen, WFN Strategies, returns with his ever-insightful observations, and of course, our ever popular “where in 19471 Youngs Cliff Road, Suite 100, Potomac Falls, the world are all those pesky cableships” is included as well. Virginia 20165, USA. Happy reading and remember rule #1 – Never hold you breath! Tel: +[1] 703 444-2527, Fax:+[1] 703 444-3047. Email: [email protected] General Advertising Les Valentine Tel: +[1] 281 531 7417 Email: [email protected] Designed and produced by Unity Marketing 2 Advertisers ContentsIssue No 26 Emails to the Editor 4 CTC 5-13 May 2006 NewsNow 5-13 Global Marine Systems 36 SubOptic 2007 Alan Robinson 16-17 Great Eastern 4 Nexans 15 A View of the Submarine Systems Supply Industry Georges Krebs 18-20 Mobius Group 37 The Importance of the United Nations Law of the Sea OFS 21 Convention to the Cable Industry Douglas R. Burnett 22-24 STF Advertising 2 Atlantic Tide Turning? Julian Rawle 25-27 STF Reprints 44 A Responsible Future Alan Robinson 28-29 WFNS 38 Project Logistics for Regional System Installations Virginia Hoffman 30-32 Improving Time-To-Market and Reducing Risk Before and During Project Implementation Debra Brask 33-35 Tracking the Cableships 39-44 Letter to a Friend Jean Devos 45 Upcoming Conferences 46 our customers. have to decide what is the absolute right fit for explorers of old we can go West or East. We Asia. most profitable “routes” between Europe and twenty-first century, carriers have to find the “spice routes” between East and West. In the our forefathers founded the “silk routes” and as perceived by the users. “high quality” route needs to be high quality exemplary. that the in-service performance proves continueto be to command a premium, assumingthis should allowto RTD is thealso likelylow to increasedeploymentRTD rapidlyof routesystemsand that areto lesstolerant. tolerant Betweengrowth Asiain trafficandwould Europe expectthat a thecontinuationisroutes that we examined. relatively In general ofterms we very high RTDdifferential growth in demand on the three more international. costs. reducing the carrier’s international operating China Telecom to boost betweenits the US businessand China. This whilehas enabled China Telecom to transmit traffic directly There is a choice of course. Like the In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries In order to maintain a premium price the We have not attempted to evaluate the ChinaNetcom isalso becoming more and Emails to Thank you for your Email and the short cut to the ������������ Submarine Telecoms Forum. Emails to the EditorThank you for your EmailI briefly visited this ����������� and the short cut to thewebsite and found������������ the Submarine Telecoms Forum.information to be����������� quite A confidential service for the supply of the EditorBusiness Limited The Dr TonyTrapp, Regards, the goodwork. Iusual. Keepup brieflypublication as Excellent Wayne, visited this interesting. specialized positions for the submarine Spectacularwebsite job puttingand found the cable sectors serving oil & gas, telecoms this together...it’sinformation tovery be quite Bill Brock, For BP and defense industries A confidential service for the supply of impressive. � Direct Placement Support Engineering interesting. 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Spectacular job putting specialized positions for the submarine cable sectors serving oil & gas, telecoms this together...it’s very Bill Brock, For BP and defense industries impressive. America Production Co � Direct Placement Support � Executive Search Dr. William J. Barattino, � Confidential Reply Service Global Broadband Solutions, LLC Thanks for a great read Visit our website or contact: and even though the [email protected] Fontaine business is “way down Managing Associate – Recruitment where the music plays”, WFN Strategies, LLC [email protected]@wfnstrategies.com3 It was quite informative wherever that may be, [+1] 410-268-2036 and interesting. I do not there is always a light think that you will be at the end of the tunnel/ Job seekers can forward CVRésumé to our willing to provide such cable. confidential résumé database at an information services [email protected] free of charge for a long Mike Wiseman, Esq. time. Best regards, Good work on the latest edition. Sumio Yamano, Sumitomo Ocean Development & Les K. Valentine, NEXANS [email protected] Engineering Co. Ltd. Norway ������������� 6 Alcatel and Lucent Technologies Respond to Merger Talk Rumors Alcatel and Lucent have released a joint statement regarding rumors of a merger between the two companies. A synopsis of current news items from NewsNow, the weekly news feed available on the Submarine Telecoms Forum website. www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/2_april_2006.htm AfrISPA Proposes New Approach to Stimulate Inter- Agreement Signed for Colombia-Venezuela Traffic Alcatel Sees Large-Scale Network Projects in Asia net Growth Pacific for 2007 Interlink Global Corp. has announced that an interconnection On 23 March 2006, at the keynote session of the Digital Africa agreement was signed in Medellin, Colombia between Interlink and Alcatel’s