6
Avr, 2022

Creating a new 'norm' for the subsea cable industry

In the run up to Submarine Networks EMEA 2022 next month, we caught up with Lynsey Thomas from Subsea Networks to hear her take on the biggest topics in the global submarine cable market.  
In your view, what is the most exciting thing happening in the industry right now?
It is really great to see all the projects that have been in the planning, financing and design phases starting to come to fruition. LinkedIn is scattered with images of new shore end landings and final splice deployments, all across the globe. Seeing the teams who have worked so hard to deliver these projects, especially in the recent challenging times, is very uplifting.  
 
Similarly, we are seeing an increase in the deployment of SDM systems, and learning how to address the new issues faced by high fibre count designs is interesting; how and what should be tested at acceptance being a particularly important question, especially for multi-landing designs with numerous discrete fibre pair owners…

In the run up to Submarine Networks EMEA 2022 next month, we caught up with Lynsey Thomas from Subsea Networks to hear her take on the biggest topics in the global submarine cable market.  

In your view, what is the most exciting thing happening in the industry right now?

It is really great to see all the projects that have been in the planning, financing and design phases starting to come to fruition. LinkedIn is scattered with images of new shore end landings and final splice deployments, all across the globe. Seeing the teams who have worked so hard to deliver these projects, especially in the recent challenging times, is very uplifting.  

Similarly, we are seeing an increase in the deployment of SDM systems, and learning how to address the new issues faced by high fibre count designs is interesting; how and what should be tested at acceptance being a particularly important question, especially for multi-landing designs with numerous discrete fibre pair owners.  Creating a new ‘norm’ is always a challenge but the subsea industry can collaborate effectively when it is required for the greater good.

NO-UK Shore End Landing in Seaton Sluice, UK

Sustainability is a key priority at the moment. What does a “sustainable” submarine cable market look like to you?

In recent years the effects of global climate change and environmental degradation have become clear to all of us. The 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs) developed by the United Nations address this, alongside a much wider spectrum of areas affecting sustainability, such as poverty, gender equality, consumption & production and economic growth.  In our industry in particular we need address sustainability within the supply chain, from materials and manufacturing to recycling, from alternative types of vessel fuel to use of renewable energy. Owners also need to employ the same concepts within their operations – from Data Centre to office block – sustainable working practices should now be commonplace.

We are looking at this subject further as part of SubOptic 2022 where Elena Badiola and myself are co-chairing the topic area “Clean Green Submarine – connecting and protecting people and the planet”, which aims to address the environmental and social responsibility of the subsea community. This encompasses subjects such as the use of renewable energy in telecoms networks, development and implementation of sensor technology, ocean observatories, SMART cables and green initiatives for marine survey, installation & operations.  On a similar theme, submarine cable decommissioning, recovery, recycling and redeployment also falls within this topic. From a citizenship perspective aspect, we hope to address areas such as harmony amongst seabed users, meeting requirements of environment agencies, educating governments, communities and the public at large about subsea systems. As we all know, creating the next generation of subsea work force and ensuring diversity and inclusion within organizations are also crucial for creating a sustainable community. 

What are your predictions for the subsea industry over the next 12-18 months? 

I think we can expect to see the on-going construction and implementation of the many new planned and funded projects that have been discussed over the last few years. What will be very interesting is to see where and how new routes start to develop, if and when they do. There has been a lot of trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific focus of late, and developments in Europe and the Middle East are in full swing. Where will the market drive new subsea builds next, and will there be the same level of momentum to deliver multiple diverse SDM systems along similar routes? 

Supply limitations and increased demand has driven price increases throughout the supply chain, and in some cases been the cause of delay. It is perhaps time to take stock on where new connectivity is actually required, assess the real scale of the capacity that is needed and develop projects based on realistic delivery timescales;  after all nobody likes a signed contract that never comes into force, or a plan of work that cannot be met.

There is still a lot of important work to be performed by the subsea cable industry to educate, communicate and collaborate with governments, permitting & environmental agencies and other seabed users to ensure that systems can continue to be successfully deployed and operated without risk or delay. We have all seen how issues within these areas can affect cable projects, and we all have a duty of care to act in the best interests of our community, as well as the global community at large.

From a technological standpoint there have been great strides made in the last five years from ROADM BUs to SDM to Aluminium cable, and as much as I long to see what’s next, the cautious part of me would like to see all these new technologies bedded down before we take our next leap forwards. It has been great to see the system suppliers challenged by the hyperscalers to develop more innovative technologies, and I am pleased that all of the main turnkey vendors have risen to the challenge.

You’ll be joining a panel at Submarine Networks EMEA 2022 in May on “Weathering the storm: successfully managing projects from contract to completion”. Can you share a preview of what key challenges you’ll be looking to unpack during the discussion?

There are certainly a lot of challenges to be discussed; from contracting, project funding, construction, permitting and regulation, to design and geopolitics. I am looking forward to hearing from experts, all of whom are currently engaged in large-scale construction projects across the globe. It’s always interesting to hear about the specific issues faced in particular regions, from North Sea cable crossings to congested landing points, and between Maja Summers, Katherine Edwards, Cynthia Perret and Alice Shelton, I think we will be able to cover a lot of different aspects of the project lifecycle.

What are you looking forward to most about attending Submarine Networks EMEA 2022?

I’m especially looking forward to meeting up with people I have been collaborating closely, albeit virtually, with over the last two years. Project managing system builds remotely has been proved to be possible, but it certainly lacks the thrill of being on-site to witness the fruits of your labour. It will be great to get together with all the people who have worked so hard on projects recently and to celebrate their success.

Having been involved with the subsea telecommunications industry since 1995 Lynsey’s previous roles include VP Global Sales for Xtera, Director of Operations for Apollo SCS Ltd and Department Head for the Cable & Wireless Submarine Systems Engineering team. During her time at C&W Lynsey worked on the Europe India Gateway system, leading the Commercial Working Group and co-chairing the Purchaser Group from conception through to contract. Having worked worldwide as a supplier, customer, operator and consultant, she has an extensive knowledge of the telecoms market. Lynsey has served as a trustee in the renewables sector and is a freelance writer and previous columnist for The Guardian.

Submarine Networks EMEA 2022 will be taking place at the Business Design Centre in London on 17th and 18th May. Join Lynsey and 600 other industry leaders at the EMEA region’s leading subsea conference to discuss the latest updates and developments from the industry. Head to the event website for more information on how to get involved.
5
Avr, 2022

Zain Global Connect pour relier l’Arabie saoudite à la France

Tenez-vous au courant de toutes les dernières nouvelles, articles, mises à jour sur les événements et les produits publiés sur Developing Telecoms.
Abonnez-vous à nos newsletters hebdomadaires GRATUITES par e-mail pour les dernières informations sur les télécommunications dans les marchés en développement et émergents à l’échelle mondiale.

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5
Avr, 2022

Crafting the perfect digital foundation: DE-CIX and the importance of regional expansion

It is well established that the coronavirus pandemic has served as a catalyst for enormous digitalisation all over the world, leaving enterprises, governments, and individuals more reliant on connectivity than ever before. 
Underpinning this vital global connectivity are internet exchange points (IXPs), physical locations containing network switches that route traffic between different internet service providers’ networks. Currently, even the most advanced markets in the world rely on a small number of these IXPs…

It is well established that the coronavirus pandemic has served as a catalyst for enormous digitalisation all over the world, leaving enterprises, governments, and individuals more reliant on connectivity than ever before. 

Underpinning this vital global connectivity are internet exchange points (IXPs), physical locations containing network switches that route traffic between different internet service providers’ networks. Currently, even the most advanced markets in the world rely on a small number of these IXPs, typically based in metropolitan areas, which handle terabits of data every second.

However, as demand continues to increase and delay in data transit becomes even more problematic for enterprise applications, this reliance on a relatively small number of IXPs is becoming a growing challenge.

For DE-CIX, one of the largest IXP players in the world, meeting this challenge has led to a growth strategy that is not only international but also local, gradually increasing their IXP presence in all their key markets in recent years. In the company’s home market of Germany, this regional expansion is almost complete. 

“We’re happy to announce that DE-CIX Leipzig is coming soon and will be operation in late summer. This is basically the last region where no exchange or even local interconnection platform was available,” explained Andreas Sturm, Chief Business Development Officer at DE-CIX. “After the past two years of growth, we are nearly present in all 11 metro regions.”

[embedded content]

You can watch our full interview with Andreas Sturm from the link above.

Explaining the company’s motivation for this regional focus, Sturm noted the improved reliability and customer experience that local IXPs can bring to customers, giving businesses the digital foundations they need to compete on a global level.

“The reason behind expanding more regionally is that we believe traffic needs to be exchanged more locally. When traffic is exchanged more locally, the customer experience is better and service is more reliable. People are moving their digital lives onto the internet, so having more reliable local exchange points is a true benefit,” he explained.

“In Germany, the challenge is that we are not known as a very digital society. But our businesses compete on a global scale and in order to do that they need to become fully digital. This requires the perfect digital foundation.”

Indeed, as companies continued to become more reliant on the cloud and the edge, existing infrastructure in many cases will not be sufficient to deliver the high-quality connectivity businesses require. This will become particularly apparent in the coming years, as more and more enterprises look to AI and automation to enhance and streamline their operations. 

“The missing piece for them – and for us – is to link the data silos with each other, to have a seamless workflow,” he explained. “The next thing that will happen after cloudification is artificial intelligence, which will rely on very high data quality. In order to use this effectively, we need to make sure that all applications are interconnected and that the data is delivered smoothly from one end to the other,” said Sturm.

“For us, now is the time to bring the pieces together. We’ve built the core, we do offerings for cloud, and now we need to link this to give people easy access to everything they need to be more competitive in the digital domain, » he concluded.
 

To hear more from Andreas and DE-CIX on the topic of Germany’s changing digital landscape, join us for our live Connected Germany conference TODAY, 5–6 April, in Mainz. Register here.

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4
Avr, 2022

Pleins feux sur l’industrie: Mike Pincus de Kohler Power Systems sur la mise en service et l’automatisation

Aucune infrastructure n’est plus critique pour un centre de données que l’alimentation qui le maintient en ligne, et lorsque le réseau tombe en panne, ces générateurs de secours doivent être prêts instantanément. À mesure que toutes nos infrastructures deviennent plus complexes et que l’automatisation entraîne tout, ces systèmes d’alimentation doivent suivre le rythme. Aujourd’hui, nous nous entretenons avec Mike Pincus, directeur des opérations commerciales chez Kohler, un leader de l’industrie de l’alimentation des centres de données, pour en savoir plus sur la nouvelle approche innovante de la mise en service qu’il a développée. … [visitez le site pour en savoir plus]

4
Avr, 2022

L’organisme de réglementation indien modifie l’ordonnance mensuelle sur le paquet tarifaire de télécommunications

L’Autorité de régulation des télécommunications de l’Inde (TRAI) a ordonné que chaque fournisseur de services de télécommunications (FST) offrant au moins un « Bon de forfait », un « Bon de Tarif Spécial (STV) « et un » Bon Combiné  » renouvelable à la même date de chaque mois.

L’organisme de réglementation a noté que si la date d’un tel renouvellement n’est pas disponible dans un mois, le renouvellement sera la dernière date de ce mois.

Après mûre réflexion, l’Administration a décidé de publier l’Ordonnance de 2022 sur le “Tarif de télécom (67e modification) (02 de 2022)”, après 60 jours à compter de la date d’entrée en vigueur de la présente ordonnance.

À la suite des représentations de l’industrie, TRAI a précisé que si la même date pour un tel renouvellement n’est pas disponible dans un mois, la date de renouvellement sera la dernière date de ce mois.

Le régulateur a ajouté la clause suivante: « Chaque fournisseur de services de télécommunications doit offrir au moins un bon de forfait, un bon de tarif spécial et un bon combiné qui doit être renouvelable à la même date de chaque mois, et si la date de ce renouvellement n’est pas disponible dans un mois, la date de renouvellement sera la dernière date de ce mois. »

Par exemple, si la date de renouvellement est le 31 janvier, la prochaine date de recharge sera le 28 ou le 29 février (selon qu’il s’agit ou non d’une année bissextile), et les dates suivantes seront le 31 mars, le 30 avril, etc.

Actuellement, les FST tels que Airtel et Vodafone Idea fournissent des forfaits de recharge avec des validités de 24 jours, 28 jours, 56 jours et 84 jours, entre autres. Pour l’instant, il n’y a pas de recharge qui peut couvrir tout le mois de 30 jours ou 31 jours.

Les clients se plaignent qu’avec la validité mensuelle de 28 jours, ils doivent effectuer 13 recharges en 12 mois. Pour régler ce problème, Trai a publié une directive en janvier. TRAI a ensuite exigé que chaque entreprise de télécommunications inclue au moins un PV, un STV et un CV avec une validité de 30 jours parmi ses offres tarifaires. Maintenant, il y avait de la confusion dans le cas où la recharge se fait le 31 d’un mois et que la même date n’est pas disponible le mois suivant. Apportant des éclaircissements à ce sujet, Trai a révisé l’ordonnance maintenant.

Le régulateur des télécommunications a prévu 60 jours supplémentaires pour se conformer à la nouvelle directive.

Le plus grand opérateur de télécommunications indien, Reliance Jio, a lancé un forfait de 259 INR (3,42 USD) avec une validité d’un mois civil plus tôt cette semaine, pour aider les utilisateurs prépayés à se souvenir d’une seule date de recharge chaque mois.

PLUS D’ARTICLES QUI POURRAIENT VOUS INTÉRESSER…

1
Avr, 2022

Les opérateurs du Bangladesh soumissionnent 1,2 milliard de dollars sur le spectre 5G

La dernière série d’enchères de spectre au Bangladesh a permis de lever 106,4 milliards de BDT (1,2 milliard de dollars américains) alors que les opérateurs cherchent à renforcer leurs offres 4G et à jeter les bases de la 5G.

Dix blocs de spectre de 10 MHz dans la bande de 2,3 GHz étaient disponibles pour les enchères, aux côtés de douze blocs de 10 MHz dans la bande de 2,6 GHz. Les licences sont valables 15 ans, les opérateurs devant payer les frais par tranches au cours des neuf prochaines années, sous réserve de rembourser 10% dans les 60 prochains jours.

Business Standard a rapporté que Grameenphone et Robi Axiata ont chacun payé environ 33,6 milliards de BDT pour acquérir 60 MHz de spectre 2,6 GHz – la détention maximale autorisée dans la bande. Banglalink et l’opérateur Public Teletalk se sont quant à eux concentrés sur la bande 2,3 GHz, le premier ayant acquis 40 MHz pour 22,4 milliards de BDT et le second obtenant une participation de 30 MHz pour 16,8 milliards de BDT.

Suite à la vente aux enchères, Grameenphone détient désormais un total de 107,4 MHz de spectre. La participation totale de Robi Axiata est juste inférieure à 104 MHz, tandis que Banglalink a 80 MHz au total et Teletalk 55,2 MHz. Environ 30 MHz de spectre n’ont pas réussi à se vendre.

Yasir Azman, PDG de Grameenphone, a déclaré: « Le renforcement de l’expérience client et l’amélioration de notre qualité de service sont des priorités importantes pour nous. Au fur et à mesure que nous déploierons le nouveau spectre, les clients bénéficieront d’une expérience 4G améliorée. »

Azman a ajouté que la coopération entre les opérateurs et le gouvernement bangladais aiderait à développer des cas d’utilisation des services 5G alors que les fournisseurs de services se préparent à tester la technologie. Teletalk a lancé le premier essai 5G du pays en décembre 2021 en partenariat avec Nokia.

Cependant, la 4G restera une technologie clé au Bangladesh, Erik Aas, PDG de Banglalink, déclarant à Business Standard: “La disponibilité de plus de spectre se traduira par une meilleure vitesse Internet et des services numériques de qualité pour les citoyens du Bangladesh. Conformément à notre objectif – la 4G pour tous, pas la 5G pour quelques – uns-nous avons l’intention d’utiliser le nouveau spectre principalement pour la 4G dans les 2-3 prochaines années.”

PLUS D’ARTICLES QUI POURRAIENT VOUS INTÉRESSER…

1
Avr, 2022

Amphissa autorisé à acquérir une participation de partenaire

Tenez-vous au courant de toutes les dernières nouvelles, articles, mises à jour sur les événements et les produits publiés sur Developing Telecoms.
Abonnez-vous à nos newsletters hebdomadaires GRATUITES par e-mail pour les dernières informations sur les télécommunications dans les marchés en développement et émergents à l’échelle mondiale.

L’envoi occasionnel d’e-mails de tiers sur les livres blancs de l’industrie, les événements en ligne et en direct pertinents pour les abonnés nous aide à financer ce site Web et notre newsletter hebdomadaire gratuite. Nous ne vendons jamais vos données personnelles. Cliquez ici pour consulter notre politique de confidentialité.