Global - Infrastructure - Submarine Cable (Archived)

Synopsis

Most international telecommunications is carried by submarine cable. Until about 2001, the number of these cables was growing very quickly, generating surplus capacity in the expectation of a boom in broadband. In turn, this resulted in falling revenues. The industry downturn in 2001 and the slow worldwide adoption of broadband made the situation much worse, and cable installation almost stopped. Some cable companies failed, and others were bought out at a fraction of their setup cost. In 2004, the industry started to revive and, by 2005, some major systems were again being constructed. This report discusses some of the major submarine systems and industry trends.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Related reports
• 3. Fibre optic undersea systems
• 4. Light at the end of the tunnel
  • 4.1 Signs of expansion in 2005
  • 4.2 KMI forecast - 2004
  • 4.3 Tyco Telecommunications – 2004
  • 4.4 Bandwidth Revenues Stabilising – 2004
    • 4.4.1 Backbone prices
    • 4.4.2 Internet backbone growth
    • 4.4.3 Global VoIP Traffic Slowing
• 5. Major submarine systems
  • 5.1 Fibre-optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG)
    • 5.1.1 Flag-Atlantic 1 (FA-1)
    • 5.1.2 FLAG North-Asian Loop (FNAL)
    • 5.1.3 FALCON
    • 5.1.4 In and out of bankruptcy
  • 5.2 Australian Japan Cable
  • 5.3 TAT-14
  • 5.4 TyCom Global Network
  • 5.5 SEA-ME-WE-4
    • 5.5.1 New Asian – Middle East – Europe cable planned
    • 5.5.2 Sale of TGN
    • Table 1 – FLAG operating submarine systems - 2005
    • Exhibit 1 – A brief description of Chapter 11