Synopsis
Submarine cable systems have been an intrinsic feature of Asia’s telecoms infrastructure. However, in the late 1990s, as billions of investment dollars poured in, a massive oversupply of undersea cable capacity was occurring. This oversupply combined with operator debt to see the region’s submarine cable market move into serious crisis in 2001. The depressed market persisted even as prices continued to fall. Things started to change for the better in 2006, when a series of new regional submarine infrastructure projects were announced. There were all the signs of recovery with a significant increase in business activity anticipated in 2007/08. This report takes a brief look at the overall market and provides information on a selection of the significant submarine cable networks across the region.