Subsea Technologies - Submarine Telecoms Forum 27.pdf · 2 Submarine Telecoms Forum is published...

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Issue 27

July 2006

Subsea Technologies

2

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 permission of the publishers.

Submarine Telecoms Forum is an independent com-mercial publication, serving as a freely accessible forum for professionals in industries connected with submarine optical fibre technologies and techniques.

Liability: while every care is taken in preparation of this publication, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information herein, or any errors which may occur in advertising or editorial content, or any consequence arising from any errors or omissions.

The publisher cannot be held responsible for any views expressed by contributors, and the editor reserves the right to edit any advertising or editorial material submitted for publication.

© WFN Strategies L.L.C., 2006

Contributions are welcomed. Please forward to the

Managing Editor: Wayne F. Nielsen, WFN Strategies,

19471 Youngs Cliff Road, Suite 100, Potomac Falls,

Virginia 20165, USA.

Tel: +[1] 703 444-2527, Fax:+[1] 703 444-3047.

Email: [email protected]

General Advertising


Designed and produced by Unity Marketing

ExordiumWelcome to the July 2006, 27th issue of Submarine Telecoms Forum, our Subsea

Technologies edition.

We have some excellent articles for your consideration.

Gabriel Ruhan provides a cable technology snapshot, while Eyal Lichtman and Michael

Schneider discuss repeaterless DWDM for submarine cables. Andrew Lipman and

Ulises Pin describe system financing for the future, while Ray Chrisner outlines the

evolution of smart branching units. Igor Czajkowski explains the theory and practice

of system upgrades, as Dr. Merrion Edwards and Rita Rukosueva reveal ultra-low-

loss fibers in submarine applications. Jean Devos returns with his ever-insightful

observations, and of course, our ever popular “where in the world are all those pesky

cableships” is included as well. Lastly, STF’s annual Author’s Index is included as a

useful reference for past articles from some rather smart folks.

Happy reading.

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ContentsAdvertisersPTC 24

CTC 6-8

GeneralOffshore 25

GlobalMarineSystems 13

GreatEastern 5

Nexans 10

STFAdvertising 9

STFReprints 4

SubmarineNetworks2006 28

WFNStrategies 29

TheCalendar 17

Issue No 27

July 2006

EmailstotheEditor 4

NewsNow 6-8

CableTechnologySnapshotGabriel Ruhan 11-12

HowAreSubmarineCableNetworksOfTheFuture

LikelyToBeFinanced?Andrew D. Lipman and Ulises R. Pin 14-16

Upgrades:TheoryandPracticeIgor Czajkowski 18-20

Ultra-Low-LossFibersEnableAdvancedPerformance

inSubmarineApplicationsDr. Merrion Edwards and Rita Rukosueva 21-24

BranchingUnitsGetSmartRay Chrisner 26-28

RepeaterlessDWDM–A317kmCaribbeanFestoon

SegmentUpgradeEyal Lichtman and Michael Schneider 30-35

TrackingtheCableships 36-39

LettertoaFriendJean Devos 40

Author’sIndex 41-48

UpcomingConferences 49

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Middle EastThe oldest and traditional fiber optic route isvia the Middle East, using the systems of FlagEuro Asia or SEA-ME-WE-3.

These two submarine systems were im-mensely significant developments at their timeof construction. They are essentially branchedsystems designed to provide connectivity tolarge numbers of countries en route. Ring pro-tected submarine systems in other oceans of theworld were developed later and neither Flag norSMW-3 are, in themselves, ring systems. Resto-ration of Flag and SMW-3 has to be created us-ing support of capacity one from the other orfrom other, less immense systems which paral-lel some of the route.

The RTD is circa 230 ms. Prices are quotedby various suppliers, offering a range of pricesnormally at least double those via USA/trans-Pacific option.

It is obviously apparent that the buyer’scriteria will decide which route to use from the

above 3 options. If, for example, RTD is of opti-mum importance to the buyer, then the newadditional option of routing via Russia, onewould assume, will be of great interest.

Future price movements, by nature, are ofcourse very difficult to predict. The USD 35 000represents a small reduction on prices over thepast 12 months. Price reduction in the last yearhas been small compared with the annual re-duction of circa 50 % p.a. that has been recordedover previous years. We can but hope that pricesacross the Atlantic, across continental USA andacross the Pacific have now stabilised. As regardsthe trends in prices on the route via the MiddleEast, the prices of Europe-Asia capacity follow-ing that route have declined less dramaticallyover the previous five years yet we can see noth-ing to cause upward pressure on prices on thatroute.

Indeed, with new cables opening up be-tween India and Singapore and onward to East-ern Asia, there is now a lot more competition

on those segments of the route than there wastwo or three years ago.

The likely trend in prices of capacity onthe route via Russia and Mongolia is very hardto predict. There are relatively few suppliers ca-pable of provisioning end-to-end circuits andtherefore the intensity of competition is not asgreat as either of the other routes. The existenceof the other routes nevertheless should con-tinue to act as a downward pressure on priceson the shortest route.

The growth of predicted traffic to Chinaover the coming years is well known. IndeedChina Telecom is pro-active in being a part ofthis business, launching plans to develop busi-ness in Europe by opening a new office in theUK. The company, which has already madesimilar moves into the North American mar-ket, is believed to be tracking corporate custom-ers with bases in Europe and China.

China Telecom was granted an operat-ing licence in the US two years ago, enabling

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Emails tothe Editor

Good work on the latestedition.

Les K. Valentine, NEXANSNorway

Thank you for your Emailand the short cut to theSubmarine Telecoms Forum.I briefly visited thiswebsite and found theinformation to be quiteinteresting.

Bill Brock, For BPAmerica Production Co

Thanks for a great readand even though thebusiness is “way downwhere the music plays”,wherever that may be,there is always a lightat the end of the tunnel/cable.

Mike Wiseman, Esq.

Spectacular job puttingthis together...it’s veryimpressive.

Dr. William J. Barattino,Global BroadbandSolutions, LLC

It was quite informativeand interesting. I do notthink that you will bewilling to provide suchan information servicesfree of charge for a longtime.

Best regards,

Sumio Yamano, SumitomoOcean Development &Engineering Co. Ltd.

[email protected]

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Did you realise that the Global Marine image on our home page is 3.2Mb. Takes forever to load, but great for boosting traffic on submarine cables!

-Stuart Corner

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China Telecom to transmit traffic directlybetween the US and China. This has enabledChina Telecom to boost its business whilereducing the carrier’s international operatingcosts.

China Netcom is also becoming more andmore international.

We have not attempted to evaluate thedifferential growth in demand on the threeroutes that we examined. In general terms wewould expect a continuation of very highgrowth in traffic that is relatively RTDtolerant. Between Asia and Europe thedeployment of systems that are less tolerantto RTD is also likely to increase rapidly andthis should allow the low RTD route tocontinue to command a premium, assumingthat the in-service performance proves to beexemplary.

In order to maintain a premium price the“high quality” route needs to be high qualityas perceived by the users.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuriesour forefathers founded the “silk routes” and“spice routes” between East and West. In thetwenty-first century, carriers have to find themost profitable “routes” between Europe andAsia.

There is a choice of course. Like theexplorers of old we can go West or East. Wehave to decide what is the absolute right fit forour customers.

32

China Telecom to transmit traffic directlybetween the US and China. This has enabledChina Telecom to boost its business whilereducing the carrier’s international operatingcosts.

China Netcom is also becoming more andmore international.

We have not attempted to evaluate thedifferential growth in demand on the threeroutes that we examined. In general terms wewould expect a continuation of very highgrowth in traffic that is relatively RTDtolerant. Between Asia and Europe thedeployment of systems that are less tolerantto RTD is also likely to increase rapidly andthis should allow the low RTD route tocontinue to command a premium, assumingthat the in-service performance proves to beexemplary.

In order to maintain a premium price the“high quality” route needs to be high qualityas perceived by the users.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuriesour forefathers founded the “silk routes” and“spice routes” between East and West. In thetwenty-first century, carriers have to find themost profitable “routes” between Europe andAsia.

There is a choice of course. Like theexplorers of old we can go West or East. Wehave to decide what is the absolute right fit forour customers.

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

3U Technologies Supports Development of Schilling Ultra heavy-Duty Hydraulic ROV

3U Technologies recently announced today they have completed a long-term support contract to assist the Schilling Sub-Atlantic Alliance with development of Schilling Robotics’ UHD™, an Ultra Heavy-Duty, hydraulic remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/2_july_2006.htm

Alcatel Wins Morocco-France Cable Contract

Alcatel has announced that it has signed a contract with Maroc Telecom, the leading telecommunication operator in Morocco, for a submarine cable network linking Morocco and France. Based on Alcatel’s market-leading optical solutions, the project, named Atlas Offshore and valued at Euro 26 million, will help Maroc Telecom to enhance its network capacity in support of new broadband service delivery and particularly call centers and off shoring activities.


Alcatel, Eletra Wins Mediterranean Science Network Project

Alcatel has announced that it has signed, in consortium with Elet-tra, a Telecom Italia Group company, a contract with Italy’s public scientific institution Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) for a 5 million Euro project to deploy a submarine cable network for the research activities carried out via the NEutrino Mediterranean Observatory (NEMO) telescope.


ARCOS Upgrade Completed

New World Network, the principal owner of the Americas Region Caribbean Optical-ring System (ARCOS), has announced it has completed a $2 million expansion of its core Internet Protocol (IP) network with financial backing from Columbus Communications Inc.

www.subtelforum.com/NewsNow/11_june_2006.htm

Bangladesh Inaugurates First Submarine Cable

An inaugural ceremony for SEA-ME-WE-4, the first submarine cable system to land in Bangladesh, was held on 21 May 2006 at submarine cable landing station at Jhilongja, Cox’s Bazaar. Bangladesh Telegraph & Telephone Board (BTTB), the incumbent carrier for Bangladesh and the country’s representative on the SEA-ME-WE-4 consortium, released a lengthy statement about SEA-ME-WE-4 and what it will bring to Bangladesh


China Netcom to Sell Asia Netcom

Asia Netcom has released more details following its recent announcement that its parent company, China Netcom Group Corporation, has signed an agreement to sell all of its Asia Netcom assets to an Investor Group led by Ashmore Emerging Markets Liquid Investment Portfolio and also including Spinnaker Global Opportunity Fund Limited and Clearwater Capital Partners.


Consortium to Build Transpacific Cable

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) has announced that it has joined a consortium of major international telecommunications entities to plan and develop a proposal for building an international undersea cable system linking South East Asia with the United States of America (USA).


CTC Marine Projects Ltd.Coniscliffe House, Coniscliffe Road,Darlington, DL3 7EE, EnglandTel: +44 (0) 1325 390 500 Fax: +44 (0) 1325 390 555Email: [email protected]: www.ctcmarine.com

Cutting Edge Cable Capability Across the World

INSTALLATION BURIAL MAINTENANCE

EASSy Agreement Reached

The Government Ministers responsible for ICT from eastern and southern Africa unanimously approved the NEPAD ICT Broadband Network, including the East Africa Submarine System Project (EASSy) operational principles.


E-Marine to Be Part of New Etisalat Services Entity

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) has an-nounced a series of senior management moves, operational consolidations and the introduction of new departments as part of a restructuring program introduced last month.


Etisalat Executive Gives Keynote at Conference

Etisalat’s keynote speaker highlighted key challenges in developing submarine infrastructure during Submarine Networks 2006, held in Dubai on June 26-27.


Global Marine Appoints of General Manager in Singapore

Global Marine Systems Limited has appointed John Walters as General Manager for its Singapore office.


Hibernia Atlantic Renews Guardian Maintenance Agreement with Global Marine

Hibernia Atlantic has renewed its Guardian Private Cable Mainte-nance agreement with Global Marine Systems Limited.


IT Completes Cable for GCI

IT International Telecom Inc. has announced the completion of the North Douglas to Lena Point fiber cable project.


IT International Telecom Completes Power Grid Installation

IT International Telecom, a leader in submarine cable installations, is pleased to announce the completion of the installation of eleven (11) submarine power cables in Northwestern British Columbia, Canada.


Looking Beyond 2007, Workshop on the Future of SAT3

A group of organizations involved in developing telecommunications resources in Africa plan to hold a a workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa, which will discuss the future of SAT-3, a crucial sub-marine cable on which hinges Africa’s chances to get a smoother ride to cyberspace.


NEC Announces Maldives Contract Win

NEC Corporation has formally announced that it has signed a contract valued at US$22.7million with Dhiraagu (Dhivehi Raajjeyge Gulhun Private Limited), the largest telecom carrier in the Maldives, and Sri Lanka Telecom for an optical submarine cable system.





Nexans to Supply Inter-Island Cable Project in Norway

Bredbånd Finnmark AS has awarded Nexans a contract to sup-ply fiber-optic cables for the first phase in the development of a fiber-optic telecommunications network throughout Finnmark, the northernmost county in Norway.


Pakistan Internet Uninterrupted Despite Cable Fault

Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) announced that SEA-ME-WE-4 developed a shunt fault approximately 18 kilometers from Karachi Cable Station after which the customers routed immediately via SEA-ME-WE-3 without any interruption.


WFN Strategies Adds Ray Chrisner as Quality Manager

WFN Strategies, a provider of telecoms engineering services for terrestrial and submarine systems, recently announced the addition to its team of Ray Chrisner as Quality Manager.


Telecom Italia Upgrades Cableship Teliri With Makai’s Latest Submarine Cable Lay And Control Software

Elettra TLC, a subsidiary of Telecom Italia, has equipped their Cableship Teliri with the latest release of Makai’s suite of submarine cable planning and installation software.


TransTelecom to Connect Sakhalin with Russian Mainland

Russian carrier TransTelecom Company (TTC) says it has begun implementing a major project – the construction of a submarine fi-ber-optic cable that will connect Sakhalin Island with the company’s mainland backbone digital network.


Tyco to Charter Tyco Decisive to Canyon Offshore

Tyco Telecommunications has announced that it has chartered the Tyco Decisive to Houston-based Canyon Offshore for four months beginning June 1, 2006.


Tyco Completes TWA-1

Tyco Telecommunications (US) Inc. has announced that it has achieved the status of Ready for Provisional Acceptance (RFPA) under the terms of a multi-million dollar turnkey contract with Transworld Associates (Pvt.) Ltd, for the TWA-1 Undersea Cable Network.


Tyco Wins Sakhalin Island Contract

Tyco Telecommunications has announced it has been selected by TransTelecom Company (TTC), a leading Russian backbone operator, as the sole provider of the first undersea communications system connecting the Sakhalin Islands to TTC’s digital mainland backbone.


Yipes Completes Carrier Network Integration with Global Partners

Yipes Enterprise Services, Inc., the leading global provider of man-aged, end-to-end Ethernet solutions for enterprise customers, today announced it has completed the integration of key international car-rier partners, expanding the capabilities of its Global Area Network (GAN) services in major business hubs across Europe, the Pacific Rim and Latin America.





Since 2001, Submarine Telecoms Forum has been the platform for discourse on submarine telecom

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At submarine depths, goes deeper

500 m

Nexans was the firstto manufacture andinstall 384 fibersubmarine cable.Nexanshas qualified andinstalled their URC-1cable family for fibercounts up to 384 fibers.

For further information, contact:Telecom: Vegard LarsenTel: + 47 22 88 62 21 E-mail: [email protected] & Gas: Jon SeipTel: +47 22 88 66 22E-mail: [email protected]

Nexans Norway AS P.O Box 6450 Etterstad, N-0605, Oslo Norway Tel: + 47 22 88 61 00 Fax: + 47 22 88 61 01US Contact:Les ValentineTel. +1 281 578 6900 Fax: +1 281 578 6991 E-mail: [email protected]

Global expert in cablesand cabling systems

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Cable Technology Snapshot

ByGabriel Ruhan

With new communication services entering the mainstream such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and IPTV it is important to remember that the vast majority of all international communications traffic still passes through a subsea network.

It is more than 150 years since Global Marine laid the first international submarine telegraph cable linking Britain to France but, despite major developments in satellite communications, subsea networks still provide a more cost effective and reliable solution which has the capacity to handle mass global communications on a real-time basis.

This growing demand for new communication services, combined with the continued appetite for business support services, such as outsourced call centres and back-up data centres is positive news for the subsea industry. Recent findings from TeleGeography Research, who monitor global bandwidth usage, showed that the telecoms industry raised capacity by about one terabit (a trillion bits) per second to about 5.5 terabits per second last year just to meet the growing demand across the Atlantic.

Additionally, more liberal telecom regulation in regions such as the Caribbean is creating more competitive telecom markets. This is driving demand from local operators for regional network installations that will provide

domestic consumers and businesses with the infrastructure for cheaper and more reliable telephone calls and internet services.

However, despite all these positive signs, Global Marine does not anticipate the next wave of big cable installations to happen until between 2010 to 2020 and, when they do, this will be a gradual and structured upgrade of trans-oceanic systems whose older cables will be coming to the end of the 25 year life span.

In technology terms, this means that the industry is currently focusing mainly on cable maintenance, rather than installation, although it is also important to highlight that we should not view our expertise as being purely of relevance for the telecoms sector.

As a case in point, Global Marine has been able to utilise its cabling knowledge and capabilities to further build its presence in the oil and gas, renewable energy, defence and scientific research sectors.

Recent examples of our work include providing power and fibre optic links to Canada’s most advanced seafloor observatory in conjunction with the University of Victoria (VENUS) and repairing a Tsunami monitoring system for the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).

But what are the consequences of this growing demand for telecom based services? One is

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that, compared to 150 years ago, the world’s seafloors are increasingly populated with subsea cable. This is particularly true in areas such as in the Atlantic and the South East Asia region.

Cable planning and maintenance is therefore a major issue for market participants and requires intricate knowledge of not only where cables lay, but also the characteristics of particular areas of seafloor.

To avoid “driving blind”, the industry relies upon complex GIS (Global Information Systems) such as Global Marine’s GeoCable which comprises over 1.9 million kilometres of cable route data and 3000 hydrographic charts to provide extensive cable and oceanographic information to allow customers to efficiently plan and execute cable installation and maintenance

After the planning stage, cable laying software is then crucial for the operational part of installation projects and Global Marine has a proprietary PC-based application, Cable Lay Planner, which applies an industry standard cable laying methodology to a variety of cable configurations.

This ensures the correct amount of cable slack is introduced during the laying process, which means that a subsea network will not be vulnerable to snagging from fishing lines or fatigue from strong currents – during the laying

process, the software can also automatically feed data back to ship board cable slack control devices.

How is this process completed? By remote operated vehicles (ROVs) which are an essential tool in both cable laying and maintenance projects. Cables laid under 1,500metres of water must be buried to protect them from potential damage from sea trawlers. More generally, the type of ROV used within the industry will depend upon the type of project, depth of water, type of seafloor and the weight of fibre optic cable.

Cable laying requires ROVs equipped with tools such as jettlegs and ploughs which create the furrows into which cables are laid and then buried. Conversely, maintenance work makes use of grapnels and cutters to lift what can be heavy cables from the seabed floor and then cut them for new fully working pieces to be re-joined to the existing cable.

Global Marine has approximately 20 ROVs to cover any subsea cable scenario and employs highly experienced ROV operatives aboard its ships to ensure each project is completed to the highest possible standards.

In conclusion, these are exciting times for the subsea industry as the growing demand for new communications services from both traditional and newer regions is helping stimulate demand for subsea engineering technologies and expertise.

Whilst use of the word “recovery” is still premature, Global Marine continues to see further market opportunities in both the installation and maintenance markets, which is further underpinned by our work in related industries such as the oil and gas sector, where our technology continues to be highly successful.

Gabriel Ruhan is Managing Director of Global Marine and is dedicated to delivering the company’s business plan. He has extensive business experience and, prior to joining Global Marine Systems in 2004, spent three years consolidating the US-based IT hosting and outsourcing business, NaviSite. Gabriel is adept at handling the challenges of realigning corporate strategy whilst maintaining tactical momentum and puts this into effect in each of the sectors Global Marine operates in.

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Constructing,maintainingandupgradingsubmarine cable networks requires significant amounts of capital. Are the sources of financing in2006differentthanthoseavailableinthepast?Istherearoleforventurecapital,privateequityorother sources of financing? The answer appears to dependmainlyontheactualdemandforcapacityandthelocationofanypotentialnewsystem.However,theabilitytoobtainfundingforanewsystemnotonlyliesonastrategically-locatedproject,butlargelydependsonthesponsors’abilitytoaccommodatetherequirementsgenerallyimposedbyprospectiveinvestorsandlenders.

There are two large groups of submarine cable networks. The first group is formed by carrier-financed and operated submarine cable networks. Traditionally these systems functionas“carrierclubs”whereincumbenttelecommunicationsprovidersofoneormorecountriesjoinforcestobuildandoperatethenetwork. Typically, one carrier leads the group andisresponsiblefortheoveralladministrationofthenetwork.Othercarriersjointheconsortiumandactaslandingpartiesforthecableintheirrespectivejurisdictions.Fundsforconstruction

How Are Submarine Cable NetworksOf The Future Likely To Be Financed?

Andrew D. Lipman and Ulises R. Pin

andoperationofthenetworksareusuallyprovidedbythecarriersandgenerallythereisnoneedforoutside sources of financing. Capacity on the networkisallocatedinproportiontoeachcarrier’sparticipationintheconsortiumandisusedbythecarrierstotransmittheirownvoiceanddatatraffic.

The second large group of submarine cablesiscomprisedof“private”ornon-carriersponsored networks. These systems peaked in thelatenineties,whenanumberofcompaniesventured into connecting the world. The business modelisfairlystraightforward,aprivatesponsorleadstheconstructionofanetworkandraisesfundingfromcapitalmarketsand/orcommercialbankswiththegoalofprovidingbulkcapacitytocompetitivetelecommunicationsprovidersandlargecorporateusers.Developersactas“carriers’carriers”becausetheygenerallydonothavetheir own traffic to transport, but aim at filling therequirementsofothersbyleasingcircuitsorenteringintosalesofcapacitymainlyintheformofIndefeasibleRightsofUse(“IRUs”).

Duringthetelecommunicationsindustrydownturnintheearlypartofthisdecade,manyofthecarrier-sponsoredcablesremainedrelativelyuntouched,althoughtherewereveryfewannouncednewcablesorexpansionsofexistingcables.However,manyoftheprivatesubmarinecable network developers experienced financial difficulties, including several large companies that went bankrupt or were forced to refinance their networks.Manyassetsendedupinthehandsofcreditorsthathopedtorecouptheirinvestmentsbysellingcollateral.Subsequently,themajorityoftheseassetshavebeensold.Manyofthemwerepurchasedatafewcentsonthedollaroftheiroriginalcost.

Foryearsitwasperceivedthattherewasjusttoomuchunusedcapacityavailableandtherewasnoneedforanynewcablesinthefuture.Moreover,itwasunclearwhetherthetelecommunicationsindustrywouldeverbeabletoattractnewcapital.However,theworstyearsforthetelecommunicationsindustryappeartobeoverandtheso-called“bandwidthglut”isslowlycomingtoanend,asincreasinginternationalbandwidthdemandhasdepletedinventoriesofunsoldcircuitsonmanysubmarinenetworks.AccordingtoTelegeography,severalnetworkoperators have lit additional wavelengths and fiber pairsonseveralroutesaslitbandwidthsupplyandbandwidthdemandarecomingintobalance.�Whilethisdoesnotmeanthattherewillbeamultitudeofindependentnewdevelopersparading1 The Bandwidth Glut is Over, in Telegeography(April�3,2006).

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businessplansthroughoutWallStreetorotherfinancial markets as we saw in the late nineties, itcertainlymeansthatthereareopportunitiesavailablefornewinvestmentincertainwellpositionedassetsorprojects.

IP-enabledcommunicationsandotherbandwidth intensive applications such as IPTV, havethepotentialtofurtherdrivethedemandforunderseacablesandtherewillbedemandfor additional capacity. There is still significant unused capacity available in numerous fiber routes includingtheUS-EuropeandUS-FarEastrouteswheremultiplecarrier-ownedandprivatesystemsinterconnectthesecontinents.However,certainregions,suchastheMiddleEast,SouthAsiaandAfricafacecapacityconstraintsand,accordingtoseveralmarketstudies,wouldrequirenewsystemstocopewithconsumerdemandforbroadband.Thus, there are opportunities out there waiting to betakentothenextlevel.

Sohowarethenetworksofthefuturelikely to be financed? The role for carrier-sponsored, self-financed cables appears to be a somewhatprovenmethodandwilllikelycontinuefor the foreseeable future. For example, Telekom MalaysiarecentlyannounceditisleadingaconsortiumofsevenAsiantelecommunicationscarrierstobuildanewhighcapacitysystemlinkingSoutheastAsiawiththeUnitedStates.But is there any role for new privately-sponsored cables? The answer appears to be affirmative.

Inthepastcoupleofyears,privateequityfunds,venturecapitalistsandotherinstitutionalinvestorshavelargelyreturnedtothetelecommunicationsindustryandhavemade significant investments in traditional and not-sotraditionaltelecomventures,suchastheacquisitionofsatelliteproviderslikeIntelsat.Privatenetworkdeveloperscancapitalizeontheopportunitiesavailableincertainareaswherecapacityisscarce.However,businessplansforthesecondhalfofthisdecadewillnecessarilyneedtobemoreregionalinscope,ratherthanthe“interconnecttheworld”typeapproachofthepast.

Awell-tailoredregionalbusinessplancouldverywellbefundable.Dependingonwhethertheprojectisinitsearlystagesorinmoreadvancedstagesofdevelopment,theanswertothe financing may be in either venture capital or privateequity.Fornewnetworks,theanswermaylie on venture capital. Typically, venture funds lookatanumberofelementstodeterminewhetherto make an investment. First, the financial model mustsupportasubstantialreturnontheequityinvestment(venturefundsexpectreturnsof30%andmore).Findinganunderservedregionoridentifying capacity demands is only the first step in crafting a successful business plan. The sponsorsmustalsoensurethattheprojectsupportstherequiredratesofreturnonequitycapitalthatinvestorsareseeking.

Second,invirtuallyallcircumstances,thebusinessplanmustdemonstratethatthenetworkwillbe“fullyfunded,”thatisthattheequityfinancing will be sufficient for the company to reach positive cash flow. This means that the morepre-salesorcapacitycommitmentsthatthesponsorscanobtainattheoutset,theeasierthechances to secure financing.

Largeinvestmentslikethoserequiredforanewprivately-sponsoredsubmarinecablenetworkwill,invirtuallyallcases,requireadebtcomponentinadditiontotheequityprovidedbythesponsorsandtheirbackers.Althoughcommercialbanksweresomeofthemostaffectedbythebankruptciesandrestructuringsofthepast,itishardtoconceivethattheywillnotprovidefinancing to a well-planned venture, backed by well-knownfunds.Moreover,insomecases,someoftheunderservedregionsorcountriesmayalsoqualifyforassistanceorlowerinterestloansfromexportagenciesorotherregionaldevelopmentbanks.However,therequirementsimposedbybanksanddevelopmentagenciesmayappeartobeincompatiblewiththeinitialrequirements of the equity financers. Structuring the debt piece of the overall financing would generallybeaccomplishedsimultaneouslywiththe equity. The business plan should be able to balancetherequirementsimposedbytheequityandthebanks,includingallowingforpromptrepaymentofthedebtandensuringthatthedebt-to-equity ratios and other financial covenants generallyimposedbylenderswillbemet.

�6

Anotherkeyaspectiscorporategovernance.Althoughthetrackrecordofthesponsorsandtheirknowledgeoftheindustryand/ortheregionarefundamental,investorswouldtypically insist on significant levels of control of thecompanythrougheithercontroloftheboardorby means of significant negative blocking rights. Inourexperience,thesearesomeofthemostdiscussedandnegotiatedissuesinstructuringatransaction. However, flexibility by the sponsors andabilitytoworktogetheronthesematterswould generally facilitate completing the financing processandbringtheprojecttofruition.Afterthedealisclosed,havingasharedvisionbetweenthesponsorsandtheventurecapitalistsgenerallyfacilitatestheongoingoperationsofthenetwork.

Finally,andalmostmostimportantly,thereshouldbeaclearexitstrategyfortheinvestors.Althoughaninitialpublicofferingmayhavebeentheexpectedexitstrategypriortothetelecombubble,thisavenuemaynotbeaseasilyavailablea few years from now. Thus, in developing an attractivebusinessplan,sponsorsneedtoclearlyidentifypotentialalternativestoanIPO,includingnarrowingdownpotentialbuyersforthenetworkorotherprospectsforconsolidation.

Thus, there appear to be several regional opportunitiesouttherethatmaybringtraditionalandnon-traditionalinvestorsbacktotheindustry.Craftingtheappropriatebusinessplanandtheabilitytobalancethebusinessandlegalrequirements of the debt and equity financiers is largelywhatseparatesafundedprojectfromonethatissimplyagoodidea.

9298686v29298686v2

Andrew D. Lipman

Andrew Lipman has spent more

than 25 years developing the firm’s

Telecommunications, Media and

Technology Group into one of the

largest practices of its kind in the

nation. He practices in virtually every

aspect of communications law and

related fields, including regulatory,

transactional, litigation, legislative

and land use. The TMT Group is

international in scope, representing

clients in the U.S., Central and South

America, Europe, Asia and other

parts of the world.

Ulises R. Pin

Ulises Pin represents domestic and

international telecommunications

companies before the Federal

Communications Commission as well

as telecommunications regulators

in Mexico, Latin America, Europe

and Asia. He advises clients on

wireline, wireless and international

communications, value-added

services, VoIP, infrastructure projects

(land and submarine networks),

satellite services and emerging

technologies.

�7

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�8

For undersea systems operating at only a small fraction of their intended capacity, upgrades are an obvious solution to capacity demand growth. At the same time, operators are increasingly recognising the benefits of a multiple-supplier environment on their cables as they seek the best technical and commercial upgrade solutions for their networks. So what does an upgrade involve, and are there any particular considerations for upgrading with a vendor other than the original supplier?

Why upgrade?Upgrades represent only one of several available routes to new capacity, alongside leasing capacity on another cable or investing in a new cable altogether. Needless to say, there is usually a different “right answer” in each case.

Leasing capacity has become more attractive recently, due to declining prices and the availability of short term deals. It is by its very nature an enduring cost compared with the one-off cost of an upgrade, but has particular advantages

Upgrades:Theory and Practice

ByIgor Czajkowski

for small capacities or short durations,New build gives access to enormous capacities, but represents a large capital investment and a significant implementation time. Whilst perhaps ultimately inevitable, there can be significant benefits from delaying the corresponding large capital expenditure for as long as possible, with the added benefits of advances in technology in the interim.

In theory…Firstly, not all cables can be upgraded, being limited to optically amplified systems rather than those with regenerators. Consequently on some routes upgrades do not present a viable option. Although one might consider changing the submerged plant, this would be very expensive, time-consuming and disruptive to traffic compared with upgrades involving only the terminal transmission equipment, which are relatively quick and inexpensive.

The most straightforward way to add new terminal equipment is to light a “dark-fibre”, and has no

impact on existing traffic. In the absence of one being available, there is always the related possibility of a complete terminal replacement, with the added major consideration of what to do with the existing traffic. An alternative traffic path must be found for the periods covering commissioning and acceptance testing.

An alternative approach is the overlay of new equipment which adds new wavelengths (usually via a coupler), keeping the original equipment and traffic untouched. This is generally possible, and the advantages of an overlay are clear, although it offers less capacity than a full replacement, being limited by the existing wavelength implementation.

In many cases upgrades can add capacity significantly beyond their original design, exploiting technology advances. This can have particular benefits for single-channel (2.5 or 5 Gbit/s) and WDM 2.5 Gbit/s cables which can generally be upgraded to multiples of their original design capacity using 10 Gbit/s channels typically at half the spacing of the earlier systems. It is usually possible to accommodate several such new channels within the amplifier bandwidth of a single-channel cable. For a WDM cable, the combination of the improvement in bit-rate (x4) and channel spacing (x2) suggests an upgrade with x8 improvement over original design capacity.

Squeezing the required number of new channels into the repeater bandwidth is only half the story.

�9

Each repeater in the chain has a limited output power, and adding new channels means less power per channel (both for existing and newer channels). This means that extra channels can be added only if the current channels operate with some margin. Fortunately, this is usually the case, as most installed systems have lower transmission impairments (accumulated repeater noise, non-linear effects, chromatic dispersion and polarisation effects to name a few) and better manufacturing tolerances than allowed for in their design. Of course, new terminal equipment also benefits from advanced Forward Error Correction (FEC), improved receive-filter design, and newer transmission formats, further increasing the margin available to new channels.

The actual available margin will depend on many specific characteristics of an individual cable, but each extra 3dB allows for a doubling of capacity. In some instances, 6 dB to 9dB are available, enabling the 8 fold increase in capacity given in the earlier example.

Newer 10 Gbit/s DWDM cables typically already benefit from more recent FEC and closer channel spacing, but might still achieve some marginal capacity improvements and will also benefit from lower cost, more compact and up-to-date equipment.

… and in practiceThe key to a successful upgrade is preparation, preparation – and more preparation! This includes gathering as much information as possible (dispersion map, fibre types, repeater parameters, repair history, etc), and checking station details thoroughly. If recent data are not available, measurements can be made that don’t affect existing traffic. This includes measuring optical spectra (confirming the wavelengths and received signal to noise) and examining the FEC correction rate records (which gives margin – ideally checking over long periods to determine fluctuations).

Performing precise computer simulations is also vital to planning a successful upgrade. With good inputs, such simulations can give accurate predictions, but can be time-consuming and require skill. Typically simulations are repeated several times, varying key parameters to determine the best technical solution. For these reasons the experience of the individuals performing the simulation is as important as the software itself. Finally, the upgrade should be planned allowing a roll-back at each stage should any problems be encountered.

Multi-vendor considerationsThere have been a number of recent upgrades by vendors other than those who originally supplied the system. The benefits of this approach are clear, and include access to technology choice and competitive supply assuring the best price.

Establishing a multi-vendor environment on a cable system need not be difficult, but does present a few technical and commercial considerations.

Inserting a coupler into the system for an overlay of second-vendor equipment is a simple operation that can typically be completed in less than fifteen minutes. Insertion is usually between the line amplifier of the existing terminal and the cable. Disruption to existing traffic can be kept to a minimum by temporarily switching to protection capacity where available, and adding the couplers to the segments in a sequentially staged manner. The couplers themselves add some loss, but the section to the first undersea repeater is usually short compared with the spacing between repeaters, and often there are attenuators which can be removed. The penalty introduced by the couplers is effectively spread across the entire line, decreasing with the total number of repeaters. For example, two 3dB couplers will add less than 0.3 dB of penalty to a line with 50 repeaters. It is also worth noting that some systems already have suitable couplers in place, avoiding the need to insert new ones. Otherwise, the coupler loss may be reduced if this is necessary.

Another consideration for overlay is that stable wavelength and power control is essential to avoid any direct interference between adjacent channels, but this is normal for any WDM equipment and all respectable suppliers maintain tight control of these parameters.

20

The original submerged plant monitoring equipment can in many cases be retained after upgrade, as this often operates independently of the data transmission functions. When it does not, then as more channels are added, it will be necessary to adjust modulation levels or to ensure that modulation is also applied to the new channels.

The new upgrade equipment operates independently of the existing equipment, so can be separately managed, but it can be useful if alarm and other data are made available to higher-level management systems where necessary.

Quite apart from overcoming the technical challenges, what about the warranty of the system being upgraded? These typically last 5 years, so for many upgrades they have already expired, but a secondary concern will be for continued support from the original supplier. Here, commercial considerations dictate that the original supplier needs to remain “reasonable” in order to be considered for future supply contracts with both the customer concerned and other customers.

Looking to the futureUpgrades are well suited to today’s economic and technical climate, and can be a relatively pain-free route to rapid and cost-effective capacity increase, but require careful preparation and attention to detail.

We can expect technological advances to offer further increases in achievable capacity (from better FEC and new transmission formats) and to offer new interfaces (such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet). More speculatively we may see new architectures, such as Add-Drop terminals allowing economic bypass of intermediate stations with low traffic needs, and new features allowing rapid or even self-provisioning incremental upgrades.

Increasingly, carriers upgrading their cables are seeking to take advantages not only of these ongoing advances in technology, but also of a competitive supplier market that enables them to remove their dependence on a single supplier for upgrading a cable. A few carefully selected requirements on new build systems, such as the inclusion of in-line couplers for future hit-less upgrades, will ease this transition further.

Igor Czajkowski is Manager, Product Marketing at Azea Networks. He has nearly 20 years of experience in

Telecoms, having previously worked with Nortel Networks

in access products, metro optical networks and optical component

design. He holds a Ph.D in optoelectronic physics from

Surrey University.

2�

isanothercriticalelement.Since,thesenetworksvarygreatlyinnumberofchannels(upto96)andinlength(fromabout400kmto�3,000km)several fiber types were developed and are being used to achieve those capacities per fiber and transmission distances in the most cost-efficient way.

Forregionalsystemsupto3,000kmastandardnegative dispersion submarine fiber with a lowpositivedispersionslope(-D,S>0)suchasCorning® Vascade® LS+ fiber, is used in the transmissionspan,orifmorepowerhandlingcapabilityisrequiredalargeeffectivearea,negative dispersion (-D, S>0) submarine fiber likeCorning® Vascade®LEAF® fiber is deployed, asshowninFigure�.Forinter-continentalsystemsthatextendbeyond3000kmandupto6500km,thesystemoftenneedstocopewithhighertransmissionpowersbutalsoneedsalowdispersionslopeandsoahybridcombinationofahighpowerhandlingnegativedispersionlarge effective area submarine grade fiber (like Corning Vascade LEAF) and a standard negative dispersion fiber (like Corning Vascade LS+) with alowdispersionslopeisoftenusedwithineachtransmissionspan.Dispersioncompensationisachievedinregionalandinter-continentalnetworksbyinsertingaspan(orpartofaspan)ofpositive dispersion fiber, such as standard single-mode fiber or a low-loss fiber.

Ultralong-haulsystemsareover6,500km,andinthesesystems,thedispersionslopeofthefiber becomes a problem as it results in different

The submarine market space consists of two main segments:repeateredandunrepeaterednetworks.Repeatered networks require in-line amplification andcanbeanythingfromregionalnetworksofupto3,000km,orintra-continentalnetworksofupto6,500km,totrans-oceanicnetworkswhichcanextendto�3,000km.

Incontrast,unrepeateredsubmarinesystemsareshort-haulunderseanetworksdesignedfordistancesofuptoaround400kmthatareachievedwithout in-line amplification.

This range in network types and lengths means thatsubmarinenetworkshaveavarietyofreachandcapacityneeds,andasaconsequencehavediverserequirementsintermsoftelecommunications systems and optical fiber solutions.Commontoallnetworkshowever,isthe need to minimize the signal loss due to fiber attenuation. Lowering the fiber attenuation yields cost efficiencies, and as a consequence ultra-low-loss fibers bring significant benefits to all submarinenetworks.

Submarine Network Design Needs a Diverse Fiber Portfolio Repeatered submarine networks use amplification to overcome fiber attenuation as so low-loss fibers can enable significant savings in amplification costs.However,repeaterednetworksarealsolimitedbytheaccumulationofchromaticdispersionoverthetransmissionpaththatdegradesthesignal.Forsuchnetworks,effectivemanagementofandcompensationfordispersion

Ultra-Low-Loss Fibers Enable

Advanced Performance in Submarine Applications

ByDr. Merrion Edwardsand Rita Rukosueva

22

transmissionchannelsaccumulatingdifferentamountsofdispersion.Forultralong-haulnetworksdispersionmanagedsystemsprovidea solution where a positive dispersion fiber with apositiveslopeandalargeeffectiveareaandacomplementary negative dispersion fiber with anegativeslopearedeployedwithineachspanofthetransmissionlinetocompensateforbothdispersionanddispersionslope,andtoalsoprovidehighpowerhandlingcapability.

Unrepeateredsystemsneedtospanthefarthestdistancepossiblewithoutanyformofamplification and the attenuation of the optical

fiber can be viewed as the main limitingfactorindeterminingthemaximumspanlength.ManytechnologiessuchasForwardErrorCorrection(FEC), Raman amplification, andRemoteOpticallyPumpedAmplifiers (ROPA) are used to extendthespanlength.

Asaconsequenceeverysubmarineproject,dependingonsystemdesign,willrequireslightly different optical fiber attributesinordertomaximizeperformanceandminimizeattenuationanddispersion.

Therefore, submarine systemdesignersrequireaccesstoadiverseportfolioofsubmarinegradefiber types that are inter-compatibleinordertooptimizebothrepeateredandunrepeateredsystemdesignaswellasforoverallcostoptimization.

Growth in Unrepeatered MarketLookingatthere-emergingsubmarinemarket,ofparticularinterestisthestronggrowthincabledemandanddeploymentinboththeregionalandunrepeatered market segments. The Caribbean hassixnewintra-regionalnetworksunderway,there is also significant regional network planning andbuildactivityinSoutheastAsia,inthePacific Islands, and in the Middle East and the Mediterranean Basin. There are currently on the orderofsixtyfourpotentialnewunrepeateredprojects being discussed around the world. The hotspotsofunrepeaterednetworkactivityincludeEuropewheretwentyprojectsareproposed,Asiawheretherearetenprojects,AfricawherethereareeightpotentialprojectsandtheCaribbeanthathassixnewprojectsasshowninFigure2.

Link Length

> 6500km?

No

Yes

No

Standard negative dispersion fiber (moderate or large Aeff)

Vascade® LS+ or Vascade® LEAF

Dispersion Managed Fiber

Vascade® R1000

Yes Yes

Hybrid: large & moderate Aeffnegative dispersion fiber

Vascade® LS+ and Vascade® LEAF

Channel Count > 80?

No

Link Length

> 3000km?

Link Length

> 6500km?

No

Yes

No

Standard negative dispersion fiber (moderate or large Aeff)

Vascade® LS+ or Vascade® LEAF

Dispersion Managed Fiber

Vascade® R1000

Yes Yes

Hybrid: large & moderate Aeffnegative dispersion fiber

Vascade® LS+ and Vascade® LEAF

Channel Count > 80?

No

Link Length

> 3000km?

Figure 1. Basic 10 Gb/s repeatered market design rules

Europe, 20

Middle East, 4

Africa, 8India, 4

Asia , 10

Australia, 1

NA, 7

Carribean, 6

South America, 4

Figure 2: There are 64 known potential unrepeatered projects across the globe today.

2�

Interrestrial/continentalnetworks,thegrowthintheinternetandassociatedgrowthine-commerceandglobaldataconnectivityisdrivingthe“broadbandmovement”thatisresultinginupgradestotheaccessnetworkandassociatedupgradestometro,regionalandbackbonenetworks.Forinsularnationsandthosenationsseparatedbysea,theequivalentnetworksareofteninherentlysubmarine,andthebroadbandmovement,forthosenations,isdrivingtheinstallationofnewsubmarinecable.Asthebroadbandmovementspreadsglobally,theassociatedeverincreasinggrowthinconsumerbandwidthdemandwillunderpinthecontinuationofastrongregionalandunrepeateredsubmarinecablemarket.Asunrepeateredsystemsrelyheavily on the availability of ultra-low-loss fiber toenablelongspanlengths,andthedeploymentofultra-low-loss fiber in repeatered systems enables amplification cost savings, the need for ultra-low-loss fiber in the submarine market is augmenting.

Corning introduces Vascade® EX1000To support the need for low-loss fiber in both the unrepeateredandrepeateredmarkets,Corninghasdevelopedandintroducedanewultra-low-loss submarine fiber, Vascade®EX�000fiber. Benefiting from Corning’s unsurpassed fiber manufacturing expertise and capability, Vascade®EX�000fiber is a silica core fiber that featuresultra low-loss and offers significant performance advantagesforunrepeaterednetworks.Transmission tests were recently conducted at Corning’sresearchlaboratoriescomparingtheunrepeatered performance of Vascade®EX�000fiber to a premium grade standard single-mode

fiber with a very low average attenuation of 0.19 dB/km�. The relative performance of the fibers withnonreturntozero(NRZ)modulationandamoresophisticatedDifferentialPhaseShiftKeying(DPSK)modulationformatwerealsocompared.Usingabasictransmissionsystemwitheight channels at 10 Gb/s, it was demonstrated that Vascade® EX1000 fiber provides up to 14% morereachoverthisalowlosspremiumgradestandard single-mode fiber when using basic EDFAsandNRZmodulation,andalsowhenusing Raman assisted EDFA amplification and/or DPSKmodulation(seeFigure3).Aspreviouslydemonstratedi, ultra-low-loss fibers like Vascade EX1000 fiber can facilitate an even greater (on theorderof�7%)reachadvantageoveranormalgrade standard single-mode fiber.

The cost of a repeatered networkwillgreatlyexceedthecostofanequivalentunrepeaterednetwork,asrepeaterednetworksrequirein-line amplifiers. Hence, anetworkthatitjustafewkilometersovertheultimatereachofunrepeateredsystemcancost60to�00%moretoinstall.Ultra-low-loss fibers like Vascade®EX1000 fiber enables an extensionofthereachof

1 Normal grade standard single-mode fiber has an attenua-tion of 0.2 dB/km

unrepeateredsystemssothatmorenetworkscanbenefit from the cost advantages of unamplified sub-seanetworks.Inaddition,ultra-low-lossfibers provide cost and performance benefits for repeateredsystems,offeringextendedspanlengthsandlowlossdispersioncompensationsolutions.

ConclusionEverysubmarinenetwork,dependingonsystemdesign,requiresadifferentcombinationofopticalfiber solutions. To meet the needs of leading edge submarine network design, fiber suppliers mustprovideafullportfolioofinter-compatibleoptical fibers. With the introduction of its new ultra-low-loss fiber, Vascade®EX�000,Corning’sportfolio of submarine fiber products now consists of five inter-compatible fibers, making Corning

80% 90% 100% 110% 120% 130% 140%

EDFA + NRZ

EDFA + DPSK

EDFA + Raman +NRZ

EDFA + Raman+DPSK

Tra

nsm

issi

on

Sys

tem

Normalized System Reach

Vascade® EX1000

Standard single-mode

Figure 3 Corning® Vascade® EX1000 fiber enables up to 14% more reach than a premium grade standard single-mode fiber with an average attenuation of 0.19 dB/km.

24

thesupplierwiththelargestandmostcompleteportfolio of submarine fibers; a portfolio that enablesadvancedsubmarinenetworksolutionsforallsubmarinenetworksegments.

Referencesi. “The Long and the Short of Regional Submarine Networks”, Stringer, J : WE B1.3, SupOptic 2004.

Dr. Merrion Edwards is currently the Manager, Premium Products for Corning Incorporated. She

has over 16 years of experience in the field of telecommunications. She has spent the last 7 years as Market Development and System Engineering Manager for Corning Optical Fiber and has expertise in broad range of telecommunication

applications including long-haul, metro, premises and submarine. Prior to

joining Corning, Edwards conducted research into photonic devices for telecommunications and sensing

with BICC Cables, Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Edwards holds a PhD in Optoelectronics from Southampton

University. She lives in with her husband Henry and three children in North Wales in the United Kingdom.

Rita Rukosueva is currently the Submarine Products Manager for Corning Incorporated. She

has been with the corporation for over 7 years. Prior to her current

position, Rukosueva was the Market Development Engineering

Manager where she made numerous contributions in the development of

next generation optical fiber products. Rukosueva holds a M. S. degree

in Physics from Moscow State University in Russia.

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26

In the age of regenerative repeatered underwater systems, Branching Units (BU’s) typically were passive devices used to reduce the quantity of cable in regional systems (i.e., UNISUR). The passive nature of these BU’s did not permit any power of fiber switching. As such, when cable cuts or faults did occur, capacity re-routing or power reconfiguration was not possible.

These early generation BU’s are in stark contrast to BU’s being planned for today’s regional systems and conceptualized for the next generation of their evolution. This paper addresses the various stages of BU evolution and provides a snap-shot of what the future may hold for these devices.

The Early Passive Branching Unit

For a small regional system comprised of 3 cable end-points (cable stations or communications platforms), in the absence of a Branching Unit, station-to-station connectivity is achieved by single cable landings at two stations and a double cable landing at the one in the middle. By utilizing a BU, all three stations can be connected by single cable landings and the quantity of cable deployed will be minimized (see Figure 1). The Branching Unit has 3 sides, one designated as the trunk and two as branches. The main power path in Figure 1 is from Station A to Station B with PFE powering being positive in Station A and negative in Station B. For the BU, the side facing the station with positive Power Feed Equipment (PFE) voltage polarity (+) is called the trunk. The main power path continues to Station

Branching Units Get SmartBy

Ray Chrisner

Branching Units Get SmartBy

Ray Chrisner

In the age of regenerative repeatered underwater systems, Branching Units (BU’s) typically werepassive devices used to reduce the quantity of cable in regional systems (i.e., UNISUR). Thepassive nature of these BU’s did not permit any power of fiber switching. As such, when cablecuts or faults did occur, capacity re-routing or power reconfiguration was not possible.

These early generation BU’s are in stark contrast to BU’s being planned for today’s regionalsystems and conceptualized for the next generation of their evolution. This paper addresses thevarious stages of BU evolution and provides a snap-shot of what the future may hold for thesedevices.

The Early Passive Branching Unit

For a small regional system comprised of 3 cable end-points (cable stations or communicationsplatforms), in the absence of a Branching Unit, station-to-station connectivity is achieved bysingle cable landings at two stations and a double cable landing at the one in the middle. Byutilizing a BU, all three stations can be connected by single cable landings and the quantity ofcable deployed will be minimized (see Figure 1).

The Branching Unit has 3 sides, one designated as the trunk and two as branches. The mainpower path in Figure 1 is from Station A to Station B with PFE powering being positive in StationA and negative in Station B. For the BU, the side facing the station with positive Power FeedEquipment (PFE) voltage polarity (+) is called the trunk. The main power path continues toStation B where the PFE voltage polarity is negative (-). Powering from Station C is negativePFE polarity to a ground at the BU.

With a passive BU, in the event of a shunt fault along the main power path (A-B), PFE voltage isautomatically readjusted, power to the repeaters is maintained, and transmission continues. Inthe event of a cable break along the main power path, transmission is lost in the leg with thebreak, but the other two stations remain connected. In the event of a shunt fault or cable break inthe leg that is powered into the ground at the BU (Station C to BU in Figure 1), transmission islost in that leg

1.

Passive BU’s are excellent devices for undersea applications. Because of the absence of activecomponents they have very low FIT rates (failures in 10

9hours).

Passive BU’s were used in undersea fiberoptic systems through the evolution of the technologyfrom regenerative repeaters into the introduction of repeaters with optical amplifiers.

1If the shunt fault is between the BU and the first repeater toward Station C, transmission may be

maintained – in all other cases, transmission is very likely to be lost.

(+) (-)

(-)

Station A

Station C

Station B

Power ConductorCCCCCoCCConducto

Fiber Pairs 1 &2

Figure 1 – Branching Unit Connecting 3 Stations

B where the PFE voltage polarity is negative (-). Powering from Station C is negative PFE polarity to a ground at the BU.

With a passive BU, in the event of a shunt fault along the main power path (A-B), PFE voltage is automatically readjusted, power to the repeaters is maintained, and transmission continues. In the event of a cable break along the main power path, transmission is lost in the leg with the break, but the other two stations remain connected. In the event of a shunt fault or cable break in the leg that is powered into the ground at the BU (Station C to BU in Figure 1), transmission is lost in that leg1.

Passive BU’s are excellent devices for undersea applications. Because of the absence of active components they have very low FIT rates (failures in 109 hours).

1 If the shunt fault is between the BU and the first repeater toward Station C, transmission may be maintained – in all other cases, transmission is very likely to be lost.

Passive BU’s were used in undersea fiberoptic systems through the evolution of the technology from regenerative repeaters into the introduction of repeaters with optical amplifiers.

Next Generation Power Switched Branching Units

Prior to the introduction of multiple wavelength (WDM) transmission, purchasers of long-distance transcontinental systems wanted the flexibility to provide BU connectivity via 1 or 2 fiber pairs but be able to dynamically bypass branches with faults or bypass stations no longer wanting to be part of he system. These requirements led to the development of power switched branching units (PSBU’s).

In a two fiber pair system, PSBU’s provided connectivity as depicted in Figure 1 but also could drop both fiber pairs to the branch station (Station C) as shown in Figure 2.

The PSBU has the advantage over passive BU’s in that if there were a transmission affecting fault between Station C and the BU, the PSBU could switch all fiber pairs as a straight through path from Station A to Station B and bypass the faulted branch leg. Once the repair was made, the PSBU could be reconfigured to restore the original connectivity of the system.

The control of the PSBU was via a sequence of powering steps performed via PFE’s at Stations A, B, and C. The steps controlled a network of relays inside the BU which made the fiber

27

switching possible. From a reliability perspective, the PSBU continued to have a very low FIT rate which made it attractive for undersea applications.

Branching Units in WDM Systems

As fiberoptic transmission evolved into providing multiple wavelength capacity, purchasers wished to selectively use single wavelengths to connect branch locations. This need is most prevalent in regional or festoon type systems.

By the simple addition of splitters, a PSBU is able to transmit all received wavelengths in either direction received from Stations A and B to a branch location such as Station C as shown in Figure 3. Equipment at Station C can then select the appropriate wavelength or wavelengths to use for its communications needs. Typically, the same wavelengths received at Station C are used for transmission.

This kind of design has strong applicability in regions where all branch locations are not ready for connectivity at RFPA. Several stubbed PSBU’s can be part of the original system deployment with the eventual intention of connecting those to branch locations in the future. By being power switchable, powering

of the PSBU can be reconfigured to maintain connectivity among major portions of the system when faults or cable breaks occur.

The PSBU for WDM applications is very reliable since no active components are added to its single wavelength counterpart. Hence, it remains as a robust element for underwater application.

The major disadvantages of a PSBU with a splitter are with regard to attenuation and transmission management/control. Since all wavelengths received at the PSBU in either direction are split and passed along down the branch, a signal loss of 3dB is realized. With respect to the transmission design, each PSBU then becomes a de facto additional 15 km of cable (assuming 0.2 dB/km of attenuation in the cable). For systems with several PSBU’s, the added attenuation can require the transmission design to include additional repeaters – as such, this may significantly add to the system cost, increase the probability of a repeater failure over the life-time of the system, and increase the probability of a repeater replacement if in proximity to a cable cut or cable repair marine operation.

With respect to transmission management/control, the fact that all received wavelengths are passed along to the branch station by the PSBU is an advantage for a single owner/operator system. Each station at the end of a branch only needs

to have equipment that receives and transmits the appropriate wavelength or wavelengths. For a regional system that has branch locations in separate countries or under different ownership, the politics of all wavelengths possibly being received may not make this an acceptable feature.

Transmission management/control of WDM systems and the need to minimize additional attenuation in future regional systems may motivate the next generation of PSBU’s.

The Wavelength Selectable PSBU

Conceptually, a PSBU with wavelength selection allows the purchaser/owner to manage, from a shore station, what wavelength(s) are transmitted to branch locations. The flexibility of wavelength management will afford WDM system owner/operators the ability to dynamically increase, add, or remove wavelengths to any branch location. For regional systems that may connect many politically disparate countries, such wavelength management is a significant advantage over the PSBU’s of today which transmit all received wavelengths.

The design of a small wavelength selectable circuit for an undersea branching unit may be several years away. To achieve such a capability, active components may need to be added. A wavelength selectable PSBU is also likely to have the benefit of low, if any, signal attenuation. Contrasted to the current WDM ilk of PSBU’s, the saving of 3dB in attenuation per device will provide the advantage of a low repeater count.

If the suppliers of underwater fiberoptic cable systems provide such a wavelength selectable PSBU in the future, the age of undersea switching may give rise to the next era of business growth in this industry.

Next Generation Power Switched Branching Units

Prior to the introduction of multiple wavelength (WDM) transmission, purchasers of long-distancetranscontinental systems wanted the flexibility to provide BU connectivity via 1 or 2 fiber pairs butbe able to dynamically bypass branches with faults or bypass stations no longer wanting to bepart of he system. These requirements led to the development of power switched branching units(PSBU’s).

In a two fiber pair system, PSBU’s provided connectivity as depicted in Figure 1 but also coulddrop both fiber pairs to the branch station (Station C) as shown in Figure 2.

The PSBU has the advantage over passive BU’s in that if there were a transmission affectingfault between Station C and the BU, the PSBU could switch all fiber pairs as a straight throughpath from Station A to Station B and bypass the faulted branch leg. Once the repair was made,the PSBU could be reconfigured to restore the original connectivity of the system.

The control of the PSBU was via a sequence of powering steps performed via PFE’s at StationsA, B, and C. The steps controlled a network of relays inside the BU which made the fiberswitching possible. From a reliability perspective, the PSBU continued to have a very low FITrate which made it attractive for undersea applications.

Branching Units in WDM Systems

As fiberoptic transmission evolved into providing multiple wavelength capacity, purchaserswished to selectively use single wavelengths to connect branch locations. This need is mostprevalent in regional or festoon type systems.

By the simple addition of splitters, a PSBU is able to transmit all received wavelengths in eitherdirection received from Stations A and B to a branch location such as Station C as shown inFigure 3. Equipment at Station C can then select the appropriate wavelength or wavelengths touse for its communications needs. Typically, the same wavelengths received at Station C areused for transmission.

This kind of design has strong applicability in regions where all branch locations are not ready forconnectivity at RFPA. Several stubbed PSBU’s can be part of the original system deploymentwith the eventual intention of connecting those to branch locations in the future. By being power

(+) (-)

(-)

Station A

Station C

Station B

Power Conductor

Fiber Pairs 1 & 2

Figure 2 – Power Switched Branching Unit Connecting 2 Fiber Pairs to the Branch

switchable, powering of the PSBU can be reconfigured to maintain connectivity among majorportions of the system when faults or cable breaks occur.

The PSBU for WDM applications is very reliable since no active components are added to itssingle wavelength counterpart. Hence, it remains as a robust element for underwater application.

The major disadvantages of a PSBU with a splitter are with regard to attenuation andtransmission management/control. Since all wavelengths received at the PSBU in either directionare split and passed along down the branch, a signal loss of 3dB is realized. With respect to thetransmission design, each PSBU then becomes a de facto additional 15 km of cable (assuming0.2 dB/km of attenuation in the cable). For systems with several PSBU’s, the added attenuationcan require the transmission design to include additional repeaters – as such, this maysignificantly add to the system cost, increase the probability of a repeater failure over the life-timeof the system, and increase the probability of a repeater replacement if in proximity to a cable cutor cable repair marine operation.

With respect to transmission management/control, the fact that all received wavelengths arepassed along to the branch station by the PSBU is an advantage for a single owner/operatorsystem. Each station at the end of a branch only needs to have equipment that receives andtransmits the appropriate wavelength or wavelengths. For a regional system that has branchlocations in separate countries or under different ownership, the politics of all wavelengthspossibly being received may not make this an acceptable feature.

Transmission management/control of WDM systems and the need to minimize additionalattenuation in future regional systems may motivate the next generation of PSBU’s.

The Wavelength Selectable PSBU

Conceptually, a PSBU with wavelength selection allows the purchaser/owner to manage, from ashore station, what wavelength(s) are transmitted to branch locations. The flexibility ofwavelength management will afford WDM system owner/operators the ability to dynamicallyincrease, add, or remove wavelengths to any branch location. For regional systems that mayconnect many politically disparate countries, such wavelength management is a significantadvantage over the PSBU’s of today which transmit all received wavelengths.

The design of a small wavelength selectable circuit for an undersea branching unit may beseveral years away. To achieve such a capability, active components may need to be added.

A wavelength selectable PSBU is also likely to have the benefit of low, if any, signal attenuation.Contrasted to the current WDM ilk of PSBU’s, the saving of 3dB in attenuation per device willprovide the advantage of a low repeater count.

Station A

Station C

Station B

Fiber Pair

Figure 3 – Branching Unit Linking All ReceivedWavelengths to a Branch Station

1 …

N

1 …

N

N+1 …

N+1 …

28

Subnet06_86x180WFN 7/13/06 3:03 PM Page 1

Composite

C M Y CM MY CY CMY K

Intelligent Infrastructure

3 - 6 October 2006, Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort, Singapore

For more information, please call on +65 6322 2700or visit www.terrapinn.com/2006/snw_sg

Organised by:

9th Annual

World 2006

Featuring

Vinod KumarPresidentVSNL International,Singapore

Wilfred KwanCTOAsia Netcom,Hong Kong

William MarraPresidentTycoTelecommunications,USA

Beng YeohCEOREACH, Hong Kong

Submarine Networks World 2006 FAX (65) 6226 3264� I am interested in attending the conference. Please contact me.� I am interested in sponsorship/exhibiting at the event. Please contact me� Please send me a Submarine Networks World 2006 conference brochure

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Media partner:

It’s all about global connectivity!• The world’s most established global

telecommunications infrastructureconference

• A conference that considers theimpac t o f h i gh bandw id thconsumption on global telecomnetworks

• High level and strategic; an event thatprovides insights on changingbusiness models of carriers andinfrastructure owners

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Bandwidth Busters

With the flattening of our world’s business economy, the sharp rise in manufacturing or services in an area or country can be met with an increase in capacity through being offered additional wavelengths on an undersea cable system, Any rise in the communications needs of any two countries connected by the system can also be easily satisfied. Such a capability will likely give rise to systems being operationally usable over longer time spans since certain factors are not present that can motive obsolescence.

* * * * *

In the early 1990’s, the TAT-9 system employed a device called a UBM (Undersea Branching Multiplexer) that offered fiber path switching capabilities. Because of the high number of active devices, expected failure rates were much higher than what was desired for undersea components.

The underwater fiberoptic cable industry has evolved to a great extent on lessons-learned because of the cost and business impacts of mistakes. There is strong industry inertia not to design a “smart” branching unit for the reasons cited throughout this paper. Alternatively, such a “smart” branching unit may be the technology harbinger for the next growth spurt in the industry.

Significant progress is often the by-product and result of change.

Ray Chrisner has over 25 years of telecommunications experience, 15 of which have been in underwater fiber optic cable systems. As a Sr. Associate with Booz, Allen & Hamilton he led their military tactical communications survivability practice. With AT&T Submarine Systems he managed the technical responses for bids and proposals and also served as the technical project manager for FLAG. With Tyco Telecommunications, he directed the commissioning and customer services organizations, and was a manager in the quality/reliability organization. He is a certified ISO 9001:2000 auditor and is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt. He joined WFN Strategies in 2006 as Quality Manager.

Engineering for submarine and terrestrial optical cable, microwave/WiMax, mobile, satellite and RF systems

Telecom Solutions...Anywhere.

www.wfnstrategies.com

IntroductionPutintoserviceinJune�997theAntillas-�cablesystemservestheCaribbeanbasinandspanstolinktheDominicanRepublicandPuertoRico.Originally,itwasdesignedtotransmitvoice,dataandimagesattherateof622millionbitsper second on each of its six fiber pairs. The system has been since upgraded to carry traffic at the STM-16 rate of 2.5 Gb/s per pair. Recently, Antillas-�hasbeentestedtodeterminehowdensewavedivisionmultiplexing(DWDM)canbeusedtofurtherexpandthecapacityofthecablesystem.

This new capacity will be used to serve a portion of the proposed Trans-Caribbean Cable Network (“TCCN”). The project was conceived to service the ever-growing Internet, data and voice traffic demands of the Caribbean. The TCCN will offer high-speed undersea fiber-optic cable connectivity frommanylocationsintheCaribbeantoMiami,Floridathroughacombinationofsegmentconstructionandexistingsegmentupgrades. Trans-Caribbean Cable Company (“TCCC”) is the managementorganizationforplanning,building,operating, and maintaining the Trans-Caribbean Cable Network. TCCC envisions that TCCN will becometheCaribbeanregion’scommon,carrier-

Repeaterless DWDM – A 317km Caribbean Festoon Segment UpgradeBy Eyal Lichtman and Michael Schneider

neutralplatformthatwillprovidethecapacityneededtostimulatethegrowthoftheInternetandothertelecomservicesintheregion.

This paper describes a field trial held by ECI Telecom and IPG Photonics in the Caribbean where eight DWDM channels at 2.7Gb/s each weresuccessfullytransmittedoverarepeaterlessundersea link of 317km. This is the longest span ofAntillas-�betweenthecitiesofPuntaCana(DR) and Isla Verda (PR).

The Undersea LinkThe 317km undersea link was composed of two types of fibers: Dispersion-shifted fiber (G.653 DSF) over the first 30km of the link, and special undersea fiber (G.654, also known as Z fiber) overtherestofthelink.Inaddition,ashortpieceof erbium-doped fiber (EDFA) was placed 67km before the fiber end to provide a remote optical amplification (ROPA). The undersea link is presentedbyFig.�abelow.

link, i.e. inserting the DWDM channels from the ROPA side, as presented by Fig.1b

below. The link “rotation” enables the DWDM transmission since in that configuration

the G.653 fiber is located at the end of the span. The signal power there is too low to

cause any nonlinear degradation.

Fig.1: The original undersea link (a) and the “rotated” undersea link (b). (The upper

arrow shows the signal propagation direction.

Raman AmplificationThe 317km undersea link results in a loss of about 60dB that could not be passed with

standard erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). To overcome such a high loss, ECI

used both backward and forward Raman amplifiers designed and manufactured by IPG

Photonics.

The RLT Series Raman Fiber Lasers from IPG are proven high reliability optical sources

optimized for this type of application. They operate within any wavelength from 1100nm

to 1700nm with output powers of up to 10W CW. Although a much lower power unit

was used here. The lasers are manufactured using IPG’s world leading high power pump

diode lasers which operate over the widest temperature range without requiring

thermoelectric coolers (TEC), thus providing unequalled reliability. These lasers were

deployed to provide distributed Raman amplification and remote pumping of the Erbium

Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFAs).

The benefit of the backward Raman amplifier (BW Raman) is due to it low noise figure.

The low noise figure of the BW Raman (<0db) enables to increase the optical signal to

noise ratio (OSNR) at the link end by about 5dB when a BW Raman is deployed.

The benefit of the forward Raman amplifier (FW Raman) is due to its immunity to

nonlinear degradations. The more uniform distribution of the signal power along the fiber

in the presence of FW Raman results in a partial suppression of the nonlinear threshold,

thus enabling higher effective input power to the fiber and overall OSNR gain.

30km G.653

1a

220km G.654 Erbium 67km G.654

67km G.654

1b

220km G.654Erbium 30km G.653

�0

Unfortunately,DWDMtransmissionwasnotpossible due to the presence of the G.653 DSF fiber at the link input. The combination of high injectionpowerandultra-lowdispersionoftheG.653 fiber would lead to strong four-wave mixing (FWM) that would result in significant crosstalkbetweentheDWDMchannelsandsevereperformancedegradation.Inordertoovercomethischallenge,ECIdecidedto”logicallyrotate”thelink,i.e.insertingtheDWDMchannelsfromtheROPAside,aspresentedbyFig.�bbelow. The link “rotation” enables the DWDM transmission since in that configuration the G.653 fiber is located at the end of the span. The signal powerthereistoolowtocauseanynonlineardegradation.

Raman AmplificationThe 317km undersea link results in a loss of about 60dB that could not be passed with standard erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs). To overcome such a high loss, ECI used both backward and forward Raman amplifiers designed and manufactured by IPG Photonics.

The RLT Series Raman Fiber Lasers from IPG are provenhighreliabilityopticalsourcesoptimizedfor this type of application. They operate within anywavelengthfrom��00nmto�700nmwithoutputpowersofupto�0WCW.Althoughamuchlower power unit was used here. The lasers are manufactured using IPG’s world leading high powerpumpdiodelaserswhichoperateoverthewidesttemperaturerangewithoutrequiring

thermoelectric coolers (TEC), thus providing unequalled reliability. These lasers were deployed to provide distributed Raman amplification and remotepumpingoftheErbiumDopedFiberAmplifiers (EDFAs).

The benefit of the backward Raman amplifier (BW Raman) is due to it low noise figure. The low noise figure of the BW Raman (<0db) enables to increasetheopticalsignaltonoiseratio(OSNR)at the link end by about 5dB when a BW Raman is deployed.

The benefit of the forward Raman amplifier (FWRaman)isduetoitsimmunitytononlineardegradations. The more uniform distribution of the signal power along the fiber in the presence of FWRamanresultsinapartialsuppressionofthenonlinearthreshold,thusenablinghighereffectiveinput power to the fiber and overall OSNR gain.

The OSNR gain achieved by the deployment of BW and FW Raman amplification is shown by Figs.2aand2b,respectively,asafunctionoftheRamangain.

Fig.2:OSNRgainasafunctionoftheRamangain for backward amplification (a) and forward

amplification (b).

The Field Trial Set-upThe final field trial set-up is described by Fig.3. Using ECI Telecom’s flagship XDM multi-service transport platform (MSTP), eight DWDM 2.7Gb/swidely-tunabletransceiverswereopticallymultiplexed and amplified by IPG’s low-noise, high-power booster (25dBm saturation power). ECI’stransceivers,spreadoverthered-zoneoftheC-band(�549.3nm–�560.6nm),werespacedat200GHz in order to reduce nonlinear phenomena likecross-phasemodulation(XPM)andfour-wavemixing(FWM).

The OSNR gain achieved by the deployment of BW and FW Raman amplification is

shown by Figs. 2a and 2b, respectively, as a function of the Raman gain.

0

2

4

6

0 5 10 15 20 25

BW Raman gain (dB)

OS

NR

ga

in (

dB

)

0

1

2

3

4

5

0 3 6 9 12 15

FW Raman gain (dB)

OS

NR

ga

in(d

B)

Fig.2: OSNR gain as a function of the Raman gain for backward amplification (a) and

forward amplification (b).

The Field Trial Set-upThe final field trial set-up is described by Fig.3. Using ECI Telecom’s flagship XDM

multi-service transport platform (MSTP), eight DWDM 2.7Gb/s widely-tunable

transceivers were optically multiplexed and amplified by IPG’s low-noise, high-power

booster (25dBm saturation power). ECI’s transceivers, spread over the red-zone of the

C-band (1549.3nm – 1560.6nm), were spaced at 200GHz in order to reduce nonlinear

phenomena like cross-phase modulation (XPM) and four-wave mixing (FWM).

Fig.3: The field trial set-up.

The amplified channels were injected into the undersea link along with two pump

lightwaves at 1442nm and 1480nm. The two pumps, 27dBm each, provide a FW Raman

gain of about 6dB. The 1480nm channel was also used to pump the ROPA (although at

such high signal power – the ROPA becomes transparent). At the other end of the

undersea link, two pump lightwaves at 1424nm and 1452nm, 27dBm each, provide a BW

Raman gain of about 23dB.

Tx Mux Booster Undersea line pre-amp DCF DeMux Rx

FW Raman BW Raman

2a 2b



0

2

4

6

0 5 10 15 20 25

BW Raman gain (dB)

OS

NR

ga

in (

dB

)

0

1

2

3

4

5

0 3 6 9 12 15

FW Raman gain (dB)

OS

NR

ga

in(d

B)

















FW Raman BW Raman

2a 2b

��

The amplified channels were injected into the undersealinkalongwithtwopumplightwavesat 1442nm and 1480nm. The two pumps, 27dBm each, provide a FW Raman gain of about 6dB. The �480nmchannelwasalsousedtopumptheROPA(althoughatsuchhighsignalpower–theROPAbecomestransparent).Attheotherendoftheundersealink,twopumplightwavesat�424nmand 1452nm, 27dBm each, provide a BW Raman gain of about 23dB.

Following the BW Raman amplification, the propagating channels were amplified by a pre-amplifier (EDFA) and their accumulated dispersionwascompensatedbydispersion-compensating fiber (DCF) that compensates for 80% of the total accumulated dispersion. The valueoftheresidualdispersionwasoptimizedbynumericalsimulationtoassuretheminimalpenaltyfromnonlineardistortion.Finally,theeightchannelswereopticallydemultiplexedonthe

XDM platform and the received BER and OSNR wererecorded.

Pre-emphasis and Field Trial ResultsDuringthepropagation,theDWDMchannelssuffer from power tilt. The power tilt is caused by the fiber wavelength dependent loss (WDL) and from gain tilt of the various amplifiers. The power tiltleadstoOSNRtiltatthetransmissionend,thussomeofthechannelssufferfromalowOSNR.

InordertoincreasetheoverallperformanceandtoassurehighOSNRmarginforallthepropagatingchannels,ECIperformedpre-emphasisatthetransmission end by using a V-Mux (optical multiplexerintegratedwithvariableopticalattenuators) on the XDM platform. The high-OSNRchannelswereattenuatedandthelow-OSNRchannelsincreaseduntilthevarianceoftheOSNR at the transmission end was below 1dB.

Fig.4presentsanopticalspectrumanalyzer(OSA)tracethatshowstheactualreceivedOSNRatthetransmissionend.Asshown,theshorterwavelength channel (ITU #35) had the lowest OSNR of exactly 15dB. The Transceiver OSNR tolerance for BER of 10-�2 is 9dB; thus, about 6dB of OSNR margin was achieved at this field trial.

ConclusionsAnerror-freeDWDMtransmissionofeight2.7Gb/s channels was performed. Employing forward and backward Raman amplification along with a transmission-end pre-emphasis, a 6dB OSNR margin was achieved. ECI Telecom and IPG Photonics have shown that the capacity of Antillas-1 can be increased to at least 20 Gb/s on a single fiber pair over the originally designed capacityof622Mb/s.

ECI Telecom and IPG Photonics have successfully verified the actual network operation against the theoreticalcalculationsandestablishedtheoptimalparametersfortheactualtransmissionequipment.



0

2

4

6

0 5 10 15 20 25

BW Raman gain (dB)

OS

NR

ga

in (

dB

)

0

1

2

3

4

5

0 3 6 9 12 15

FW Raman gain (dB)

OS

NR

ga

in(d

B)

















FW Raman BW Raman

2a 2b

Pre-emphasis and Field Trial ResultsDuring the propagation, the DWDM channels suffer from power tilt. The power tilt is

caused by the fiber wavelength dependent loss (WDL) and from gain tilt of the various

amplifiers. The power tilt leads to OSNR tilt at the transmission end, thus some of the

channels suffer from a low OSNR.

In order to increase the overall performance and to assure high OSNR margin for all the

propagating channels, ECI performed pre-emphasis at the transmission end by using a

V-Mux (optical multiplexer integrated with variable optical attenuators) on the XDM

platform. The high-OSNR channels were attenuated and the low-OSNR channels

increased until the variance of the OSNR at the transmission end was below 1dB.

Fig.4 presents an optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) trace that shows the actual received

OSNR at the transmission end. As shown, the shorter wavelength channel (ITU #35) had

the lowest OSNR of exactly 15dB. The Transceiver OSNR tolerance for BER of 10-12

is

9dB; thus, about 6dB of OSNR margin was achieved at this field trial.

ConclusionsAn error-free DWDM transmission of eight 2.7Gb/s channels was performed. Employing

forward and backward Raman amplification along with a transmission-end pre-emphasis,

a 6dB OSNR margin was achieved. ECI Telecom and IPG Photonics have shown that

the capacity of Antillas-1 can be increased to at least 20 Gb/s on a single fiber pair over

the originally designed capacity of 622Mb/s.

ECI Telecom and IPG Photonics have successfully verified the actual network operation

against the theoretical calculations and established the optimal parameters for the actual

transmission equipment. These tests confirm eight bi-directional channels of 2.7 Gbps

over a 317km unrepeated undersea link of the existing Antillas-1 cable system.

Fig.4: An optical spectrum analyzer trace showing the OSNR of the received

channels. The lowest OSNR is 15dB

�2

Fig.3a: Detail of Punta Cana to Isla Verde link.

��

Fig.3b: Detail of Isla Verde to Punta Cana link.

�4

These tests confirm eight bi-directional channels of 2.7 Gbps over a 317km unrepeated undersea linkoftheexistingAntillas-�cablesystem.

Amongothers,ECIiscurrentlyevaluatingEFECandSuper-FECtechnologiesfortheXDMproductfamily.Asthesefeaturesareincorporateditshouldbepossibletogainadditionalcapacitywithfutureupgradestotheexistingsystem.

Summary notes:

1. Successfully transmitted 8 channels in both directions (modified spacing) of 2.7 Gbps using ECI Telecom’s 1000km dispersion widely tunable laser with dithering and G.709 forward error correction (FEC).

2. After testing a few options we concluded that the XDM’s 16-channel DWDM mux (red zone) with variable attenuation (VMUX) is required for this application for pre-emphasis.

3. Minimum OSNR margin (transmit site to receive site) is 6 dB for each direction.

4. The fiber pairs are used in the reverse direction. In other words, the G.653 fiber (DSF) is located near the receive side to reduce nonlinear effects.

5. According to the stability test the End Of Life <= 10E-12.

Eyal Lichtman is a senior member of the research and development team of ECI Telecom’s Optical Networks Division. Mr. Lichtman has more than 20 years of experience in the research of advanced optical communications systems both in the academy and the university. His main activities include nonlinear propagation in fiber optics, network design and network optimization. Eyal Lichtman holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the Weizmann institute in Israel.

Michael Schneider is a marketing manager at ECI Telecom with over 17 years of experience in telecommunications. Mr. Schneider has been engaged in undersea and satellite communications projects since the beginning of his career. His latest work includes marketing ECI’s three main lines of optical transport, data networking, and broadband access products. Michael Schneider holds a B.S. degree from Systems Technology Institute in Casselberry, Florida.

�5

LR NO VESSEL NAMEMOVE TYPE

MOVE TYPE QUALIFIER

ARRIVAL DATE

ARRIVAL DATE EST

ARRIVAL DATE

QUALIFIER

SAILEDDATE

SAILED DATEEST

SAILED DATE

QUALIFIERPORT NAME COUNTRY NAME

9�0��2 Cable Innovator 5/5/2006 Bermuda Bermuda

80278�0 Wave Venture 5/�4/2006 Victoria(CAN) Canada

9��6� Maersk Defender 6/�9/2006 Victoria(CAN) Canada

9��6� Maersk Defender 5/29/2006 6/2/2006 Victoria(CAN) Canada

88��9�0 Discovery 6/�8/2006 St. John’s(CAN) Canada

9�00748 Wave Sentinel P W 6/2�/2006 6/2�/2006 Dover Strait United Kingdom

92�6494 Tycom Reliance 6/26/2006 Bristol United Kingdom

9205720 Skandi Neptune 6/24/2006 Tyne United Kingdom

9248�00 Rene Descartes P W 5/��/2006 5/��/2006 Dover Strait United Kingdom

9�25�40 Ocean Pearl 6/�/2006 6/�/2006 Lerwick United Kingdom

92��5�5 Normand Cutter 5/�9/2006 5/22/2006 Invergordon United Kingdom

92��5�5 Normand Cutter 5/��/2006 Y A 5/�9/2006 Y B continental shelf United Kingdom

920705� Maersk Recorder 6/�0/2006 6/�8/2006 Tees United Kingdom

920705� Maersk Recorder 6/9/2006 6/�0/2006 Y B Tees United Kingdom

920705� Maersk Recorder 5/8/2006 5/�0/2006 Hull United Kingdom

9227754 Geomaster 6/5/2006 6/6/2006 Aberdeen(GBR) United Kingdom

9227754 Geomaster 5/�9/2006 Y A 5/�0/2006 Aberdeen(GBR) United Kingdom

69�0520 Elektron 6/�6/2006 6/�7/2006 Peterhead United Kingdom

69�0520 Elektron 6/�5/2006 6/�5/2006 Tyne United Kingdom

69�0520 Elektron 6/��/2006 6/�4/2006 Buckie United Kingdom

88��9�0 Discovery 6/4/2006 6/�0/2006 Aberdeen(GBR) United Kingdom

88��9�0 Discovery 5/27/2006 Y A 6/4/2006 Y B continental shelf United Kingdom

88��9�0 Discovery 5/26/2006 5/27/2006 Peterhead United Kingdom

88��9�0 Discovery 5/��/2006 5/��/2006 Dundee United Kingdom

89�8629 C.S.Sovereign 6/�0/2006 Falmouth United Kingdom

THE CABLESHIPS

* Over �000 tons

A global guide to the latest known locations of the world’s cableships*, as ot March 2006. Information Provided by Llyods List.


MOVE TYPE QUALIFIER

ARRIVAL DATE

ARRIVAL DATE EST

ARRIVAL DATE

QUALIFIER

SAILEDDATE

SAILED DATEEST

SAILED DATE


7�82469 Salma P W 6/2�/2006 6/2�/2006 Gibraltar Gibraltar

9�99854 Team Oman P W 5/29/2006 5/29/2006 Gibraltar Gibraltar

9248�00 Rene Descartes P E 6/4/2006 6/4/2006 Gibraltar Gibraltar

9�00748 Wave Sentinel 6/�2/2006 6/��/2006 Everingen Netherlands

69�0879 Sir Arthur J. 5/5/2006 Scheveningen Netherlands

9�99854 Team Oman 6/25/2006 6/27/2006 Ymuiden Netherlands

9�99854 Team Oman 6/�5/2006 6/�6/2006 Ymuiden Netherlands

9�99854 Team Oman 6/5/2006 6/��/2006 Beverwijk Netherlands

76�9458 Bourbon Skagerrak 5/��/2006 6/20/2006 Y B Eemshaven Netherlands

90�9602 Teneo 5/�2/2006 5/�2/2006 Nassau Bahamas

9��9074 Toisa Pisces 6/�8/2006 Freeport(BHS) Bahamas

8�04�99 Raymond Croze P S 6/25/2006 6/25/2006 Suez Arab Republic of Egypt

924704� Ile de Batz P N 6/25/2006 6/25/2006 Port Said Arab Republic of Egypt

9242�64 Tyco Decisive 5/��/2006 6/8/2006 Mobile United States of America

90�9602 Teneo 5/28/2006 6/2/2006 Baltimore United States of America

90�9602 Teneo 5/�8/2006 5/28/2006 Y B Portsmouth(NH USA) United States of America

92�52�8 Maersk Reliance 5/�0/2006 6/��/2006 Mobile United States of America

9��6� Maersk Defender 6/6/2006 6/8/2006 Seward United States of America

8900866 Global Sentinel 5/�5/2006 Portland(OR USA) United States of America

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Letter to a friendfrom Jean Devos

44

“Botany Bay”

I published recently a modest novel, whose titleis Botany Bay. It is the place in Australia where

Alcatel established asubmarine cable fac-tory in 1989 as part ofits contract for theTasman 2 link. In thissame bay, where twocenturies before theFrench expedition“La Pérouse” made oftwo ships, La Boussole

Warrior event was still in everyone’s memory. Itis for these reasons among others that STC (UK)rejected the Alcatel‘s suggestion to come with ajoint bid, to offer a “European” solution.

One of the winning factors has been thePort-Botany cable factory. Such a factory was astrong requirement from OTC (now Telstra) andthe Australian Government.

Alcatel was the most motivated. Such afactory could expand its influence in the Pacificwhere the three other players were historicallywell established in this region, which representsa large part of their market. They saw thisfactory as a risk for their existing facilities!SubOptic ‘87 in Versailles came at the right time.It is where the Australian teams discovered theFrench model, a close cooperation betweenAlcatel and FT, exactly what they wanted to es-tablish in their country.

My friend, things are changed since, butone thing stays true: When you offer something,the reader can see between the lines if you areor not genuinely motivated and sincere. Thenyour offer becomes really attractive and thisopens the route to “Botany Bay.”

See you soon.

Submarcom Consulting

My Dear Friend

Letter to a friendfrom Jean Devos

Jean Devos

and l’Astrolabe, landed in 1788 to discover thatCaptain Cook was already around bearing theBritish flag. So Botany Bay is now for me thesymbol of a dream which becomes a reality!

Tasman 2 has been yet another chapterin this long Anglo-French competition! Theaward to Alcatel came out as a big surprise tomany, including inside Alcatel. Everybody wasnaturally expecting the British to win that bat-tle, and such an expectation was at that timevery logical.

There were so many difficulties andmisunderstanding between Australia andFrance, the main one being the French presencein the Pacific area, the worse being the nuclearbomb experiment in Tahiti! The sad Rainbow

Best and final!My dear friend, Like you, I am disappointed to see how things are often conducted. Today I have in mind the culture behind or around the so called “procurement process”, and more specifically this terrible thing wrongly called “Best and final offer “(BAFO). What a terrible word. In my mother language it sounds like a “Baffe” a common word for “a slam in the face” and that is what it is. None of these 3 words – best, final, offer - are appropriated to describe this diabolic invention. It is no more an “offer,” but a rape, more often endless than “final” and never the” best”.

The very first side effect of the “Bafo” game is to pollute the bidding process and clearly to increase the prices submitted at this stage. Why would suppliers come with their best prices if

they know that no decisions will be take on this basis? A smart supplier – and they are all smart - come with a “reasonable” price and then spend a lot of time, effort, and often money to collect information from inside the process so to get prepared for the coming Bafo. It also pollutes the evaluation process since it is in the” buyers” prime interest to organise leaks, false info, rumours, in view of pushing the prices down at the Bafo stage. The final winner is often not the one who came initially with the “best offer,” but the one who have the best” intelligence service”.

The worse case happens when the cable owner organises the evaluation through two separated lines: the “technical” evaluation by one team, and the “commercial” evaluation by another team. There is a genetic mismatch: When one team asks for more things, more services, greater quality, the other one squeeze prices, delivery time, guarantees, etc.

The “winning” supplier has no other choice but to play on this mismatch to recover a bit of money during the project implementation. I have even seen suppliers finally happy not to have been selected! Would you believe this? They prefer to concentrate on small “niche” projects where they can at least enjoy a little margin.

The suppliers should be clearly invited to give their “best offer” at the bidding stage. That is the idea behind the bidding process and this is fair. The “buyers” should then evaluate the various offers and select the “winner” with whom they then start to “negotiate” the deal they need, keeping the “second best” in the line.

I hope that the present paper will stimulate a debate on this subject which could find its conclusion at SubOptic 07. It would be the honour of our community to adopt a more civilised procedure. My intention is to show up in Baltimore next year, wearing a tee-shirt labelled “Mort au Bafo”. I invite you to join me.

Your friend,

Jean Devos

Author Article Issue Date

Andres, Jose Improved methods of cable route planning Issue 5 October 2002

Annoque, Christian The State of the Industry - Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India Issue 2 January 2002

Arbi, Zatri Telecom: Not To Be Taken For Granted Issue 18 January 2005

Arnos, Guy & Doig, Russ Bandwidth in the Oil Patch Issue 22 September 2005

Arnos, Guy; Nielsen, Wayne; Wells, Steve Nobody Said It Was Easy Issue 16 September 2004

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part I Issue 14 May 2004

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part II Issue 15 July 2004

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part III Issue 17 November 2004

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part IV Issue 19 March 2005

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part V Issue 20 May 2005

Ash, Stewart History of the Industry Issue 22 September 2005

Ash, Stewart Where does the UJ Consortium go from here? Issue 25 March 2006

Bailey, Toby Surviving the Telecoms Rollercoaster Issue 4 July 2002

Ball, Geoff Deployment of Cabled, Incline Sensors, 3.5 tons in weight Issue 23 November 2005

Bannon, Robert Homeland Security Technology Workshop Issue 17 November 2004

Bannon, Robert & Burnett, Doug Underwater Infrastructure Protection – Risk Mitigation and Proactive Prosecution Issue 23 November 2005

Bannon, Robert & Burnett, Douglas Underwater Infrastructure Protection, Risk, Mitigation, and Pro-Active - Prosecution: Part II Issue 24 January 2006

Bannon, Robert & Burnett, Douglas Underwater Infrastructure Protection, Risk, Mitigation, and Pro-Active Prosecution: Part III Issue 25 March 2006

Barattino, William Dr. & Harrington, William Broadband Communications for Maritime Users Issue 6 January 2003

Baribeau, Yves & Poirier, Nancy Viable. Flexible. Reliable - ITG’s branching unit Issue 4 July 2002

Barnett, Pamela You and PTC Issue 4 July 2002

Bax, Andy The Rise of Regional Submarine Networks Issue 20 May 2005

Author Article STF Issue Date

Andres, Jose Improved methods of cable route planning Issue 5 October 2002

Annoque, ChristianThe State of the Industry

Europe, the Middle East, Africa and IndiaIssue 2 January 2002

Arbi, Zatri Telecom: Not To Be Taken For Granted Issue 18 January 2005

Arnos, Guy; Nielsen, Wayne; Wells, Steve Nobody Said It Was Easy Issue 16 September 2004

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part I Issue 14 May 2004

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part II Issue 15 July 2004

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part III Issue 17 November 2004

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part IV Issue 19 March 2005

Ash, Stewart From Elektron to ‘E’ Commerce – Part V Issue 20 May 2005

Bailey, Toby Surviving the Telecoms Rollercoaster Issue 4 July 2002

Bannon, Robert Homeland Security Technology Workshop Issue 17 November 2004

Barattino, William Dr. & Harrington, William

Broadband Communications for Maritime

UsersIssue 6 January 2003

Baribeau, Yves & Poirier, NancyViable. Flexible. Reliable.

ITG’s branching unitIssue 4 July 2002

Barnett, Pamela You and PTC Issue 4 July 2002

Bax, Andy The Rise of Regional Submarine Networks Issue 20 May 2005

BenBenek, JulesAutonomous Submarines

Alternatives for ROV and AUV operationsIssue 9 July 2003

Bishop, Jim Back to the Future in Cable Jointing Issue 14 May 2004

AUTHOR INDEX

Bax, Andy Global Marine Technology Update Issue 25 March 2006

BenBenek, Jules Autonomous Submarines - Alternatives for ROV and AUV operations Issue 9 July 2003

Bishop, Jim Back to the Future in Cable Jointing Issue 14 May 2004

Bishop, Jim Is Submarine Cable WEEE? Issue 20 May 2005

Bishop, Jim & Walker, John The Security Issues of Multiple Cable Landings Issue 25 March 2006

Bland, Sir Christopher Executive Forum Issue 17 November 2004

Boe, Rolf Off-Shore Communications Issue 20 May 2005

Borkey, Todd Seamless Integration of Undersea and Terrestrial Networks Issue 7 March 2003

Borries, Puja Of Strategic Importance to Business - Pacific Telecommunications Conference Issue 1 October 2001

Borries, Puja President of China Telecom at PTC 2003 Issue 6 January 2003

Brask, Debra Improving Time-To-Market and Reducing Risk Before and During Project Implementation Issue 26 May 2006

Budde, Paul International Infrastructure Developments in Asia Issue 6 January 2003

Budde, Paul Asia- Developments in Submarine Cable Networks Issue 24 January 2006

Burnett, Doug & Bannon, Robert Underwater Infrastructure Protection – Risk Mitigation and Proactive Prosecution Issue 23 November 2005

Burnett, Douglas Cable Owners Challenge New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Issue 3 April 2002

Burnett, Douglas New Developments on Out of Service Submarine Cables Issue 19 March 2005

Burnett, Douglas The Importance of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention to the Cable Industry Issue 26 May 2006

Burnett, Douglas & Bannon, Robert Underwater Infrastructure Protection, Risk, Mitigation, and Pro-Active - Prosecution: Part II Issue 24 January 2006

Burnett, Douglas & Bannon, Robert Underwater Infrastructure Protection, Risk, Mitigation, and Pro-Active Prosecution: Part III Issue 25 March 2006

Butler, Chris Pioneer with Experience Issue 4 July 2002

Byous, Jim Protection against financial aggression - System maintenance in today’s market Issue 5 October 2002

Byous, Jim Sea Change - Gulf Fiber System Issue 10 September 2003

Carragher, Daniel A Troubled Chapter - Chapter 11 leaves its mark Issue 9 July 2003

Carter, Bill So, where do we go from here? Issue 5 October 2002

Carver, Roger Maritime Security - The Need for Awareness and Compliance Issue 10 September 2003

Carver, Roger Maritime Security Issue 17 November 2004

Case, Jim Desktop Studies – Foundations for Cable System Data Issue 21 July 2005

Chaires, Daryl Unrepeatered Submarine Links Benefit From All-Raman Technology Issue 25 March 2006

Chba, Michel; Fevrier, Herve Reaping the Benefits - all-Raman Transmission Technology Issue 14 May 2004

Colonna, Jean Paul & Peuch, Alain Continuous Burial Assessment of Cables: A State-of-Practice Issue 6 January 2003

Cooper, Graham Marine Asset Management Issue 12 January 2004

Cooper, Graham Vessel Automation Identification Systems (AIS) for Oilfield Operations Issue 16 September 2004

Coughlan, David Executive Forum Issue 13 March 2004

Crawford, Brian Executive Forum Issue 20 May 2005

Cuccio, Frank Failure Was Never An Option – Marine Recovery Operations Issue 14 May 2004

Davis, Tom Offshore Oil and Energy Systems Issue 16 September 2004

de Hoop Scheffer, Jaap Executive Forum: A view of the Industry Issue 23 November 2005

Dean, Barbara Dr.; Gardner, Jeff Dr. Reliability by design - In practice and in the field Issue 11 November 2003

Demeroutis, Basil; Fletcher, Ian; Wells, Steven Alchemy Revisited Issue 12 January 2004

Demeroutis, Basil; Fletcher, Ian; Wells, Steven Alchemy Restored Issue 13 March 2004

Demeroutis, Basil; Wells, Steve; Fletcher, Ian Alchemy – Reversed then Restored Issue 19 March 2005

Devos, Jean Letter to a friend Issue 2 January 2002

Devos, Jean Letter to a Friend Issue 4 July 2002

Devos, Jean Letter to a Friend Issue 5 October 2002

Devos, Jean Letter to a Friend Issue 6 January 2003

Devos, Jean Letter to a Friend Issue 7 March 2003

Devos, Jean Letter to a Friend Issue 8 May 2003



Devos, Jean Letter to a Friend Issue 16 September 2004

Devos, Jean Letter to a Friend Issue 17 November 2004





Devos, Jean Letter to a Friend Issue 22 September 2005

Devos, Jean Letter to a Friend Issue 23 November 2005




Devos, Jean & Thornton, Geoffrey The State of the Industry - Europe, the Middle East and Africa Issue 1 October 2001

Doig, Russ & Arnos, Guy Bandwidth in the Oil Patch Issue 22 September 2005

Douglas, Ian GMLS Case Study: Aniva Bay Issue 24 January 2006

Drabble, John Submarine Cable Decommissioning: Assessing the Environmental Risks Issue 25 March 2006

Duzevich, Gordon Global Asia Pacific Completes a Challenging Project Issue 22 September 2005

Eastaugh, Paulo TSS Moves Ahead Issue 22 September 2005

Edwards, Katherine Countdown to Apollo Launch The world’s most advanced cable system Issue 2 January 2002

Eldridge, Murray So, Where Do We Go From Here? Issue 3 April 2002

Eldridge, Murray What Price Market Forces? Issue 24 January 2006

Ellis, Chris Hi-Tech Cables, Hi-Tech Project Management Issue 3 April 2002

Evans, Andrew Unlocking the Broadband Opportunity — Middle East, India and Asia lead the way in industry recovery Issue 13 March 2004

Evans, Graham AUVs for cable route surveys Issue 4 July 2002

Faint, Dick In space no one can hear you scream . . .Trading in Cyberspace Issue 5 October 2002

Faint, Richard Risk Management: Who is Playing at What? Issue 7 March 2003

Fevrier, Herve and Chba, Michel Reaping the Benefits - all-Raman Transmission Technology Issue 14 May 2004

Fletcher, Ian & Wells, Steven When is a Bubble not a Bubble? Issue 7 March 2003

Fletcher, Ian and Wells, Steven and Demeroutis, Basil Alchemy Revisited Issue 12 January 2004

Fletcher, Ian and Wells, Steven and Demeroutis, Basil Alchemy Restored Issue 13 March 2004

Fletcher, Ian; Demeroutis, Basil; Wells, Steve Alchemy – Reversed then Restored Issue 19 March 2005

Ford, Peter Digital India – The Underwater Connection Issue 21 July 2005

Frater, Simon The Future for Cable Repair and Maintenance Issue 24 January 2006

Frisch, Tony Technology in Long-span Submarine Systems Issue 2 January 2002

Fullenbaum, Marc Secrets and Lies in Regional Systems Issue 18 January 2005

Gardner, Jeff Dr. and Dean, Barbara Dr. Reliability by design - In practice and in the field Issue 11 November 2003

Grant, Paul GIS – The Power of Spatial Management Issue 15 July 2004

Greenham, Derek A Chinese Tale: How SBSS Expanded Business from a Cable Installer to an Offshore Service Supplier Issue 22 September 2005

Griffith, Scott It’s not all a bed of roses Issue 11 November 2003

Harrington, William & Barattino, William Dr. Broadband Communications for Maritime Users Issue 6 January 2003

Hibbard, John Future Price Trends Issue 4 July 2002

Hibbard, John Executive Forum Issue 18 January 2005

Hibbard, John Asia Pacific Vantage Issue 23 November 2005

Hoffman, Virginia The Forgotten Mile Issue 20 May 2005

Hoffman, Virginia Project Logistics for Regional System Installations Issue 26 May 2006

Hollis, Rogan You get further with a Carrot and a Big Stick Issue 12 January 2004

Hollis, Rogan Regional Reality Issue 20 May 2005

Horne, John SubOptic goes from strength to strength Issue 11 November 2003

Horne, John and Robinson, Alan So How Was SubOptic 2004 for you? Issue 14 May 2004

Hotchkiss, Adam and Romagnino, Richard Convergence of Terrestrial and Undersea Networks Issue 13 March 2004

Hua, Vivian S.B. Submarine Systems – An Overview Issue 18 January 2005

Hynes, Mike Upgrades - The Viable Alternative? Issue 13 March 2004

Janaitis, Tim New Phoenix Offices Issue 22 September 2005

Jean Devos Letter to a Friend Issue 8 May 2003

Jones, Michael Breaking with Convention - A Different Way of Laying Submarine Cables Issue 9 July 2003

Kahn, Natasha Bridging the Gap Issue 16 September 2004

Kasdan, John Déjà-vu Issue 6 January 2003

Kassay, Travis; Nikolopoulis, Nikos Fiber Optic Cables vs. Fixed Satellite Services Issue 18 January 2005

Kitamura, Ted The State of the Industry - Asia Issue 1 October 2001

Krebs, Georges Executive Forum Issue 14 May 2004

Krebs, Georges A View of the Submarine Systems Supply Industry Issue 26 May 2006

Lambert, Neil Key Driver - The Delivery of Broadband Remains the key driver in the Asia Pacific Region Issue 8 May 2003

Larsen, Vegard Briggar High Fibre Diet Issue 16 September 2004

LeBoutillier, Anna Telecom Conference 101 Issue 24 January 2006

Lécroart, Antoine Emerging Markets for Submarine Cables Issue 14 May 2004

Lentz, Steve NEPTUNE Canada – Deploying New Cabled Observatory Technologies in the Deep Ocean Issue 23 November 2005

Lipman, Andrew Is an IRU a Safe Bet for Submarine Capacity? Issue 19 March 2005

Lipman, Andrew and Tanner, Troy Cables Beware FCC Regulations can Bite Issue 10 September 2003

Manock, John The State of the Industry - The Americas Issue 2 January 2002

Manock, John Back to the Future Issue 20 May 2005

Manock, John Submarine Cables and Other Developments in West Africa Issue 22 September 2005

Manock, John Recovery Year behind Us with a Solid Book of Business Ahead Issue 25 March 2006

Marra, William C Intelligence for the Coastline Protection Issue 17 November 2004

Marra, William Dr. Walking a Mile in Our Customers’ Shoes - Being a System Supplier with Owner and Operator Experience Issue 8 May 2003

Matsudaira, Tsunekazu The Winds of Change Issue 4 July 2002

McMullen, Scott Oregon Fishermen Offer Gear Calculator Issue 7 March 2003

Millar, David & Rein, Bruce Cableawareness.com - An internet based awareness strategy Issue 5 October 2002

Miller, George Back to Basics Issue 4 July 2002

Miller, George & Sheedy, Sally A Bad Storm, Not a Perfect Storm - The Submarine Market in Context Issue 3 April 2002

Milstead, Matthew Executive Forum Issue 12 January 2004

Munier, Rob Mind the Gap Issue 3 April 2002

Munier, Rob Back Seat Driver Issue 23 November 2005

Murfett, Marianne; Winter, Charlotte What To Do When Things Go Wrong Issue 17 November 2004

Nickelson, Richard A unique event - The PTC 2004: New Times - New Strategies Issue 11 November 2003

Nielsen, Wayne; Wells, Steve; Arnos, Guy Nobody Said It Was Easy Issue 16 September 2004

Nikolopoulis, Nikos; Kassay, Travis Fiber Optic Cables vs. Fixed Satellite Services Issue 18 January 2005

Nordgard, Olav Harald Executive Forum Issue 16 September 2004

Oak, Siew Ying Cable Protector – A Specialized Deep Seabed Burial Barge Issue 18 January 2005

Peuch, Alain & Colonna, Jean Paul Continuous Burial Assessment of Cables: A State-of-Practice Issue 6 January 2003

Pockett, John Partnering For Success Issue 15 July 2004

Poirier, Nancy & Baribeau, Yves Viable. Flexible. Reliable - ITG’s branching unit Issue 4 July 2002

Polishuk, Paul The State of the Industry - The Americas Issue 1 October 2001

Pugh, Tim Cutting the Gordian Knot - A Geoscience View of the Cable Industry Issue 3 April 2002

Ramsden, Rex Bandwidth The State of the Market Issue 2 January 2002

Ranahan, Doug Convergence Issue 5 October 2002

Rawle, Julian New life discovered in the Caribbean Issue 11 November 2003

Rawle, Julian Asian Pacific Overview Issue 18 January 2005

Rawle, Julian The Importance of Being Integrated Issue 21 July 2005

Rawle, Julian Atlantic Tide Turning? Issue 26 May 2006

Rein, Bruce & Millar, David Cableawareness.com - An internet based awareness strategy Issue 5 October 2002

Richardson, Alfred & Runfola, Jack Security and Submarine Telecommunications Cable Issue 24 January 2006

Riga, Andy Telecom experts display market savvy - Entrepreneurs founded fibre-optic company, sold to a US giant and recently bought it back Issue 9 July 2003

Robinson, Alan Recovery or Rationalisation: SubOptic - a tonic for the Hangover! Issue 8 May 2003

Robinson, Alan Addressing the Future of the Submarine Cable Industry Issue 12 January 2004

Robinson, Alan SubOptic 2004 Issue 13 March 2004

Robinson, Alan SubOptic 2007 Issue 26 May 2006

Robinson, Alan A Responsible Future Issue 26 May 2006

Robinson, Alan and Horne, John So How Was SubOptic 2004 for you? Issue 14 May 2004

Romagnino, Richard and Hotchkiss, Adam Convergence of Terrestrial and Undersea Networks Issue 13 March 2004

Rudde, Paul Major Submarine Cable Projects in Asia - The infrastructure of Asian cable systems Issue 8 May 2003

Ruddy, Michael Searching for a light in the fog - A future for the submarine cable industry? Issue 2 January 2002

Ruderman, Kurt O&G Wind Farm Energy Market Issue 22 September 2005

Ruderman, Kurt Scientific Submarine Cable Projects Issue 23 November 2005

Runfola, Jack A Simple View Issue 9 July 2003

Runfola, Jack & Richardson, Alfred Security and Submarine Telecommunications Cable Issue 24 January 2006

Schwartz, Larry Executive Forum Issue 19 March 2005

Seip, Jon Fibre Optics in Offshore Communications Issue 2 January 2002

Shamburek, Steven Nets and the Internet Issue 12 January 2004

Shaw, Andy Rising Anew From the Ashes Issue 25 March 2006

Sheedy, Sally & Miller, George A Bad Storm, Not a Perfect Storm - The Submarine Market in Context Issue 3 April 2002

Soja, Tom Internal Telecom Bandwidth - Drivers, opportunities and challenges Issue 1 October 2001

Soja, Tom Answer from a Friend Issue 3 April 2002

Soja, Tom Negotiating the Market’s Half Pipe - The market “adventure” over the last two years Issue 8 May 2003

Soja, Tom Negotiating the Market’s Half Pipe - Part 2 Issue 10 September 2003

Soja, Tom Back to the Future — The rise of the regional systems market Issue 13 March 2004

Spalding, Marsha Survival of the Leanest Issue 6 January 2003

Stronge, Tim Submarine bandwidth Issue 4 July 2002

Stroud, Doug Deepwater Burial Record - Trencher Achieves Record in SE Asia Issue 3 April 2002

Stroud, Doug Record Successes in Deepwater Cable Issue 20 May 2005

Stuart, Bob The Perfect Storm Issue 3 April 2002

Stuart, Bob Future Project Finance Structures Issue 4 July 2002

Stubbings, Cate Which Way Round the World? Issue 17 November 2004

Tanner, Troy and Lipman, Andrew Cables Beware - FCC Regulations can Bite Issue 10 September 2003

Thornton, Geoffrey A Passage to India Issue 13 March 2004

Thornton, Geoffrey & Devos, Jean The State of the Industry - Europe, the Middle East and Africa Issue 1 October 2001

Tremblay, Pierre Mountain of Debt Issue 3 April 2002

TSA Newsfeed Bandwidth: Shattering the Myth - Carriers shatter the myth of the glut bears Issue 1 October 2001

Utsumi, Yoshio Challenges For All Issue 7 March 2003

Walker, John & Bishop, Jim The Security Issues of Multiple Cable Landings Issue 25 March 2006

Wall, Bill ITG completes Apollo burial Issue 5 October 2002

Wall, Bill Those other submarine utilities Issue 11 November 2003

Wall, Bill Power Cable Installations Issue 22 September 2005

Warnes, David A Big Fish in a Small Pond - Market Liberalization Driving Demand for Bandwidth in Latin America Issue 3 April 2002

Wells, Steve; Arnos, Guy; Nielsen, Wayne Nobody Said It Was Easy Issue 16 September 2004

Wells, Steve; Fletcher, Ian; Demeroutis, Basil Alchemy – Reversed then Restored Issue 19 March 2005

Wells, Steven Is there light at the end of the tunnel? The current subsea marketplace Issue 1 October 2001

Wells, Steven & Fletcher, Ian When is a Bubble not a Bubble? Issue 7 March 2003

Wells, Steven and Demeroutis, Basil and Fletcher, Ian Alchemy Revisited Issue 12 January 2004

Wells, Steven and Demeroutis, Basil and Fletcher, Ian Alchemy Restored Issue 13 March 2004

Wilkie, Alasdair Dublin is Attached to Boston Issue 9 July 2003

Winter, Charlotte; Murfett, Marianne What To Do When Things Go Wrong Issue 17 November 2004

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITIONSDiary

Conference Date Venue www

Submarine Networks World 2006 3 - 6 Oct 2006 Singapore www.terrapinn.com/2006/snw_sg

Offshore Communications Conference 2006 7-9 November 2006 Houston, Texas USA www.offshorecoms.com

OES Homeland Security Technology Workshop 2006 5-7 December 2006 Newport, Rhode Island USA www.oceanicengineering.org

ITU Telecom World 2006 4-8 December 2006 Hong Kong, China www.itu.int/world2006/

PTC 2007 14-17 January 2007 Honolulu, Hawaii USA www.ptc07.org

SubOptic 2007 14-17 May 2007 Baltimore, Maryland USA www.suboptic.org

Subsea Technologies - Submarine Telecoms Forum 27.pdf · 2 Submarine Telecoms Forum is published...

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