Subsea Cable

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO:6503) announced that it will upgrade the India-Middle East-Western Europe (IMEWE) Cable System with 100gigabit per second (Gbps) dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) based on a contract signed on October 4, 2015, thereby increasing the transmission capacity to 5.6Tbps. The upgrade, which will involve installing submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) and terrestrial line terminal equipment (TLTE) in eight countries, is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2016.

The IMEWE Cable System, which was commissioned in 2010 as a 10Gbps DWDM system, is an ultra-high capacity fiber optic submarine cable system which links India to Europe via the Middle East. The system is approximately 12,000 kilometers long and includes 10 terminal stations owned by a consortium of nine leading telecom operators in eight countries: India, Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Italy and France. The cable system comprises three optical fiber pairs with two fiber pairs on an express path, plus a terrestrial link connecting the cities of Alexandria and Suez in Egypt. Mitsubishi Electric previously upgraded the system in 2012 with 40Gbps DWDM, the latest technology available at the time. Mitsubishi Electric will deliver new MF-11200GWS Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) and Terrestrial Line Terminal Equipment (TLTE) with superior coherent technology to all 10 landing stations. In addition to a drastic increase in the ultimate capacity, Mitsubishi Electric has also been able to double the data capacity per rack and improve the total power consumption per cable station.

Mitsubishi Electric has been a leader in submarine cable systems ever since supplying the world's first optically amplified repeaters for the 5Gbps TPC-5 project in 1994. Subsequently, in 1999, Mitsubishi Electric supplied the world's first 10Gbps submarine transmission technology for transoceanic cables. The introduction of 40Gbps transmission technology into the TAT-14 cable network (May 2011), Asia-America Gateway (November 2011) and the IMEWE Cable System (December 2011) built Mitsubishi Electric's reputation worldwide as a leader in the move towards the terabit era. In 2015, Mitsubishi Electric introduced 100Gbps transmission technology into the SEA-ME-WE 4 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4) Cable System linking South East Asia to Western Europe via the Middle East.

The development of 100G SLTE/TLTE incorporating superior coherent technology was supported in part by the “High Speed Optical Transport System Technologies” and “High-speed Optical Edge Node Technologies” R&D projects of Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication.

Multinet Pakistan, the leading domestic and international carrier in Pakistan, Omantel, the national operator of Oman and one of the largest wholesale carriers in the Middle East, and Xtera Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: XCOM), a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-effective optical transport solutions, have announced the signing of the turnkey supply agreement for the new subsea cable system Silk Route Gateway 1 (SRG-1). The new cable will be a direct highway from Muscat in Oman to Karachi in Pakistan, with a future extension to Gwadar in Pakistan.

"The SRG-1 project is our ambition to restore the significance of the traditional silk route by establishing a digital gateway to the most budding telecom markets of the Asian subcontinent”, said Mr. Rashid Shafi (SEVP & Chief Strategy Officer, Multinet Pakistan). “This new cable will fuel the massively growing demands of the Pakistani market and will bring up an unprecedented reach to China, Afghanistan and Central Asia,” he further added.

Mr. Sohail Qadir, Vice President, Omantel Wholesale, commented: “SRG-1 is another reflection of our commitment to the global carrier community to offer them with the most efficient routes. The SRG-1 bridges Asia to Africa and the West through a low latency network and we anticipate this to evolve as the telecom world’s primary access to the region.” “Selecting an innovative technology partner like Xtera is imperative to the overall success of the project. Xtera brings onboard the expertise and professional pedigree to develop an efficient optical submarine network which will enable Multinet and Omantel to offer cutting edge connectivity services to their customers,” SRG-1 Consortium commented.

Xtera will supply its turnkey 100G/100G+ optimized submarine system solution for this new project, including Nu-Wave Optima^TM Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE), undersea optical repeaters, undersea branching units, cable, all marine services, project management, installation and commissioning.

“We are delighted to be selected by SRG-1 consortium to build this new submarine cable system as a further validation of our turnkey offering for high-performance, high-reliability subsea cable systems,” said Jon Hopper, President and Chief Executive Officer of Xtera. “This new build project represents a second cable project for Xtera in the region after the award of the G2A subsea cable system between Oman, Puntland and Somaliland, and the second opportunity to deploy our branching unit after its official launch at SubOptic 2016 Conference in Dubai in April 2016.”

TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity Ltd. company and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, and Georgian telecommunications provider Caucasus Online, announces that they have signed a contract to perform a network upgrade to the Caucasus undersea cable system. The upgrade to the 1,200 km regional system will be completed by May 2016.

In service since 2008, the Caucasus Cable System was designed, manufactured and installed by TE SubCom. The system provides high bandwidth connectivity between Poti, Georgia and Balchik, Bulgaria, and successfully serves Georgian markets by providing direct access to Western Europe. Utilizing TE SubCom’s 100 Gb/s coherent transmission technology, the system can now support over 9 Tb/s, more than seven times (7x) the initial design capacity. This latest upgrade will increase lit capacity to 780 Gb/s.

“As the project supplier for both the full system construction and previous upgrades, we greatly value Caucasus Online’s confidence in TE SubCom,” said Aaron Stucki, president, TE SubCom. “We look forward to continuing our support of this essential cable route by providing state-of-the-art technology that enables Caucasus Online to bring high-volume capacity to its customers.”

“Our system has proven vital to achieving connectivity throughout the Caucasus region, and a network upgrade will only improve our service offerings,” said Nikolai Tchiaureli, CEO, Caucasus Online. “TE SubCom’s familiarity with the system will bring with it a seamless capacity increase, and we’re pleased to continue our longtime collaboration with them.”

Following their recent announcement of a partnership that will install over 17,000km of new subsea cable directly connecting Angola, Brazil and the United States, Angola Cables has affirmed and praised Ocean Specialists, Incorporated (OSI) for the highly strategic role the subsea cable advisory and project management firm has played in the design and development of Angola Cables’ global network build out.

Angola Cables, with the strategic and operational support of OSI, has initiated two innovative new subsea cable networks. The first, known as the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) links Angola with Brazil, is already under construction and marks the first South Atlantic modern D-WDM fiber optic cable network in history. The second, the recently announced Monet cable network, will further connect Santos and Fortaleza in Brazil and Boca Raton, Florida, providing onward connectivity to Angola via SACS. The Brazil-US network is currently under construction in partnership with Algar Telecom (Brazil), Antel (Uruguay) and Google.

Subsea telecommunications cable networks are critical to global voice and data communications, and carry over 98% of the worlds’ telecommunications traffic. High-speed fiber optic networks are essential to both businesses and consumers, and allow real-time access to apps, social media, websites and other bandwidth intensive services. As the most efficient way to transmit information between continents and cities, fiber optic cables provide added benefits of security and reliability that are indispensable to both telecom service providers and their enterprise customers.

“The design and implementation of a subsea cable network is a highly specialized undertaking, and OSI, as our partner in network development from the very beginning of the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) discussions, has been instrumental to our success. From providing an initial economic viability analysis and network development strategy to evaluating investment options and network design, and then on to running a competitive tender process and rigorous evaluation process for our network contractor, OSI has been absolutely critical in supporting Angola Cables as we execute our regional and global strategy,” stated Antonio Nunes, CEO, Angola Cables.

“With their existing ownership in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), Angola Cables’ network build out across the Atlantic and on to the United States is an important piece in its Tier 1 global connectivity strategy,” stated Tom Soja, Vice President, OSI and Strategic Advisor to Angola Cables. “The SACS and Monet networks, combined with the existing WACS network, place Angola in an excellent position to function as the ‘hub’ of Africa’s regional communications needs.”

Angola Cables has extended OSI’s five-year relationship and responsibilities to the project implementation phase which will carry the company’s involvement through to the final acceptance and initial O&M of the new subsea network. OSI – the industry’s leading submarine cable project management and delivery firm – has actively led and directed these two major supply contracts on behalf of Angola Cables, from project feasibility and funding to network build and installation, contracting two leading suppliers in the undersea cable industry for final project completion.

About OSI: OSI Delivers Global Connections. OSI’s team combines unequalled subsea cable development experience throughout the planning, design, procurement and installation phases of a subsea network development. OSI minimizes project and network risk and maximizes return on investment to ensure project success.

About Angola Cables: Angola cables is an international wholesale carrier that operates submarine cable systems throughout the South Atlantic and Africa. Angola Cables also operate the Angonix (Angolan IXP) in its data center (Angonap) in Luanda. Africa is today the fastest growing region of internet penetration in the world. Angola Cables’ goal is to transform Angola into one of the telecommunication hubs in Africa. For more information visit www.angolacables.co.ao.

Following their recent announcement of a partnership that will install over 17,000km of new subsea cable directly connecting Angola, Brazil and the United States, Angola Cables has affirmed and praised Ocean Specialists, Incorporated (OSI) for the highly strategic role the subsea cable advisory and project management firm has played in the design and development of Angola Cables’ global network build out.

Angola Cables, with the strategic and operational support of OSI, has initiated two innovative new subsea cable networks. The first, known as the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) links Angola with Brazil, is already under construction and marks the first South Atlantic modern D-WDM fiber optic cable network in history. The second, the recently announced Monet cable network, will further connect Santos and Fortaleza in Brazil and Boca Raton, Florida, providing onward connectivity to Angola via SACS. The Brazil-US network is currently under construction in partnership with Algar Telecom (Brazil), Antel (Uruguay) and Google.

Subsea telecommunications cable networks are critical to global voice and data communications, and carry over 98% of the worlds’ telecommunications traffic. High-speed fiber optic networks are essential to both businesses and consumers, and allow real-time access to apps, social media, websites and other bandwidth intensive services. As the most efficient way to transmit information between continents and cities, fiber optic cables provide added benefits of security and reliability that are indispensable to both telecom service providers and their enterprise customers.

“The design and implementation of a subsea cable network is a highly specialized undertaking, and OSI, as our partner in network development from the very beginning of the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) discussions, has been instrumental to our success. From providing an initial economic viability analysis and network development strategy to evaluating investment options and network design, and then on to running a competitive tender process and rigorous evaluation process for our network contractor, OSI has been absolutely critical in supporting Angola Cables as we execute our regional and global strategy,” stated Antonio Nunes, CEO, Angola Cables.

“With their existing ownership in the West Africa Cable System (WACS), Angola Cables’ network build out across the Atlantic and on to the United States is an important piece in its Tier 1 global connectivity strategy,” stated Tom Soja, Vice President, OSI and Strategic Advisor to Angola Cables. “The SACS and Monet networks, combined with the existing WACS network, place Angola in an excellent position to function as the ‘hub’ of Africa’s regional communications needs.”

Angola Cables has extended OSI’s five-year relationship and responsibilities to the project implementation phase which will carry the company’s involvement through to the final acceptance and initial O&M of the new subsea network. OSI – the industry’s leading submarine cable project management and delivery firm – has actively led and directed these two major supply contracts on behalf of Angola Cables, from project feasibility and funding to network build and installation, contracting two leading suppliers in the undersea cable industry for final project completion.

About OSI: OSI Delivers Global Connections. OSI’s team combines unequalled subsea cable development experience throughout the planning, design, procurement and installation phases of a subsea network development. OSI minimizes project and network risk and maximizes return on investment to ensure project success.

Utility companies have been laying pipes and cables across the ocean floor for more than a century. Prior to the introduction of GPS, marking their position was a difficult and tedious task, fraught with error. It is extremely important to know the exact location of existing lines before undertaking dredging operations or when new pipes and cables are laid down. Regulations require they be buried from several feet to several meters under the bottom to prevent snagging by boat anchors and fishing trawls. The amount of overburden typically makes it impossible to find these lines with conventional metal detectors as the burial depth is beyond their detection range. Two pieces of equipment that have proved most effective are the pinpointing magnetometer and the cable tracker. The pinpointing magnetometer is a very sensitive instrument that locates iron and steel pipes buried up to 16 feet in the bottom, and the cable tracker is powerful enough to detect a power or communications cable at more than 30 feet away.

New Jersey based Castle Group is employing both of these devices in their operations. The group consists of three firms; WJ Castle and Associates with marine engineering expertise, Hydro Marine Construction offering a complete range of commercial diving services, and Simplified Bridge Systems specializing in bridge construction. Founder William Castle has been providing marine construction and engineering services for over 30 years, and served on a number of industry boards including the International Association of Diving Contractors (IADC).

On a recent job the cable tracker proved an essential piece of equipment. Steve Gardner, dive supervisor and engineer for Castle reported, “We received an emergency call from a contractor working in Jersey City. A section of a privately owned pier was in danger of collapse. It needed immediate rehabilitation to prevent further deterioration and it becoming a hazard to navigation. The work included driving new steel sheeting into the bottom in an area with two high voltage underwater power lines. My team was tasked with locating and marking the cables to ensure they would not be disturbed while driving in the sheeting. For this job we employed our JW Fishers CT-1 cable tracking system. A diver with the CT-1 probe was deployed and he quickly located and marked their exact position. We had also brought along our JW Fishers PT-1 pipe tracker just in case the two high voltage lines were buried in one trench making it difficult to get a good reading on them. If this happened, our plan was to use the PT-1 to detect the steel armor on the cables. But as it turned out, the cable tracker worked perfectly.”

Another company successfully using the cable tracker is Marine Technologies Inc. (MTI), a commercial diving company and heavy marine contractor in Baltimore, Maryland. President Terry Clark reports, “We recently used our CT-1 on a project in New York tracking utility lines running under the Hudson River near the new Tappan Zee Bridge. Once all of the existing lines were successfully located with the cable tracker, our team installed 15,000 feet of new fiber optic cable six feet below the natural bottom of the river. We chose Fishers cable trackers because of their reliability and ease of operation, which are important with the remote locations we often work in. We have several CT-1 trackers and have used them on projects in places as far away as South America and Europe. Over the years they have performed flawlessly for us.”

Midco Diving and Marine Services has offices in Rapid City, South Dakota and Loveland, Colorado. They offer an extensive list of services including inspection, maintenance and repair of underwater structures, diver dredging, zebra mussel elimination, high-risk and haz-mat diving, as well as marine engineering and support. The company recently acquired a JW Fishers PT-1 pipe tracker to assist in locating a deeply buried 8 inch effluent pipe in South Carolina. Company president Robert Greenspan said the PT-1 worked well and was instrumental in helping their diver find and track over 800 feet of pipeline.

Technology from Harris CapRock Communications, a premier global provider of managed communications services for remote and harsh environments, is enabling Oceaneering International, Inc. to remotely pilot and automatically control its NEXXUS remotely operated vehicle ROV.

Global Marine Systems Limited, the world leader in subsea system design, installation and maintenance has been awarded an extension of the North America Maintenance Zone (NAZ) submarine cable maintenance contract up to 31st December 2024. This long-term extension demonstrates the consortium owners' confidence in Global Marine’s capabilities to deliver highly responsive and well-executed maintenance provision to all members.

NAZ covers a cable maintenance footprint, which stretches from the Eastern North Pacific to the Equator. Global Marine has been providing cable maintenance services from its base port in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada since January 2012 providing dedicated year-round cover to the region. Global Marine’s track record in the North Pacific extends back further, when in 1991 it installed and maintained the first repeatered system linking the US mainland with Japan.

This new contract will see Global Marine expand the cable storage capacity at the Victoria depot in British Columbia. Additionally, the purpose built cable ship Cable Innovator will replace CS Wave Venture from the 1st February 2017, bringing improved DPS-2 functionality. The repair vessel stores strategic spares in its cable tanks to support rapid mobilization in the event of a fault and is equipped with COTDR and deep water ROV capability to support the detection of faults on ultra-long haul systems.

"Maintaining submarine telecom systems is something we are good at and very passionate about.” said John Walters, Maintenance Director at Global Marine, “We are delighted to extend our services in this part of the world. The North Pacific Ocean presents a harsh operating environment in the winter months and the appointment of Cable Innovator to Victoria will enhance our responsiveness to maintain those critical internet services in the worst of weather conditions."

Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT.L), a leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, together with Global Marine Networks and Network Innovations, announces the successful trial and subsequent commercial order for Fleet Xpress in Antarctic waters. Fleet Xpress, installed on board the adventure cruise ship Ocean Nova, delivered robust communications in one of the most hostile environments on the planet.

Fleet Xpress, the hybrid Ka and L-band service using Inmarsat’s Global Xpress network, delivers the world’s first globally available high-speed broadband service from a single network operator. The trial was successfully conducted on board the 1992 built ice class Ocean Nova, owned by Nova Cruising Ltd and operated by Nova Logistics, a polar expedition specialist.

“Our customers rely on us to provide cutting-edge satellite services,” said Dr. Luis Soltero, Chief Technology Officer of Global Marine Networks which offers a range of internet based services, hardware and software to commercial clients. “Fleet Xpress delivered on its promise of high-speed seamless mobile broadband service in one of the world’s most difficult areas for most satellite systems. Antarctica requires low-horizon satellite views through heavy cloud cover and precipitation. Fleet Xpress successfully overcame these conditions,” he added.

In this trial, Network Innovations, one of Inmarsat’s first value-added resellers of Fleet Xpress, was able to provide its expertise and support to Global Marine Networks and the crew of the Ocean Nova which used a Cobham SAILOR 100GX antenna.

Noting the first-rate performance of the Fleet Xpress service throughout the trial, Eric Verheylewegen, Vice President and General Manager of Network Innovations commented on the successful outcome of tests aboard the Ocean Nova. “Throughout this test, the Fleet Xpress service allowed passengers and crew to conduct daily communication activities beyond our expectations in this extreme location. Now they have decided to install Fleet Xpress, we could not be more satisfied with the results.”

“This trial marks another important milestone for the launch of Fleet Xpress. By testing Fleet Xpress in such harsh conditions we are pushing the boundaries of what we can offer,” said Ronald Spithout, President of Inmarsat Maritime. “Fleet Xpress is set to redefine maritime communications and will transform the way vessels are managed and optimized throughout the globe. We are thrilled that Nova Cruising Ltd have chosen to rely on and invest in Fleet Xpress with a commercial order for the rest of their fleet.”

The order is from a Global Satellite Service Provider and is valued $2.1M

ORBIT Communication Systems, a leading provider of mission-critical communication solutions for Land, Sea, Air and Space applications, announced today that it has received another order for OceanTRx 7-500 Ka-band systems, its Maritime Satellite Communication solution, from a global Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) Service provider. Value of this order is $2.1M. The systems will be installed on cruise ships and shall continuous allow broadband connectivity. These systems shall add to similar systems already installed on vessels of some of the largest global cruise ship operators.

OceanTRx7-500 2.2m antenna systems provide broadband data communication at exceptionally high traffic speeds and supports Ka-band High Throughput Satellite (HTS) communications which is considered the most promising and growing segment in the satellites communication industry. Over the past years, ORBIT’s 1.2m and 2.2m Ka-band systems proved its technological superiority and high reliability in numerous installations among defense and commercial customers.

According to Erez Shabirow, ORBIT’s CEO: “This follow on order represents a vote of confidence in ORBIT’s Ka-band Maritime Satellite Communication systems, which are based on the company’s registered patent. We are pleased to be part of the HTS-Ka era enabling fast broadband satellite communication at sea. ORBIT strives to expand its cooperation with this major customer in the future.”

Today TenneT marked the official opening of a special cable storage facility in Eemshaven, the Netherlands. The facility provides 2.309 m² of floor space, enabling the storage of up to 4,600 tonnes of high-voltage electricity cables. The cables concerned measure between 10 and 24 cm in diameter, with weights ranging from 30 to 100 kg per metre. TenneT needs these massive cables for subsea connections that link offshore wind farms (OWFs) to the onshore grid, and for offshore direct-current interconnectors (DCI) like the NorNed cable between the Netherlands and Norway and the planned COBRA cable between the Netherlands and Denmark.

‘Turntables’

The storage facility includes two huge ‘turntables’ that are used to roll up the cables. Each turntable is divided into six sections, allowing storage of twelve different cable systems at any given time to a total of 2,300 tonnes. The facility’s location in Eemshaven is ideal for various reasons. Vessels can moor in front of the storage facility, facilitating quick and efficient loading and unloading of cables. The facility is also located near the converter station for the NorNed cable and the planned landing point of the COBRA cable.

Previous plans for the construction of an Offshore Maintenance Centre (OMC) in the north of the Netherlands have been shelved for the time being. Such an OMC was initially envisaged as a base of operations for personnel involved in maintenance work on the transformer platforms and offshore grid connections for German and future Dutch OWFs north of the Wadden Sea. Since there are no current plans for new OWFs in this sector of the North Sea, an OMC in the north of the country is not necessary at this time. Maintenance personnel working on TenneT’s offshore projects currently do not need an onshore base of operations, because they will perform their work mainly on the offshore platforms or using those platforms as their base of operations.

Omantel, the national operator of Oman and the leading wholesale carrier in the Middle East, has signed a supply agreement with Xtera Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: XCOM), a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-effective optical transport solutions, for building yet another unique submarine cable to strengthen its position in the region and beyond. The new cable will be built in partnership with Ethio Telecom, Golis Telecom and Telesom Company and will be a direct highway from Salalah in Oman to Bosaso in Puntland and Berbera in Somaliland, with a terrestrial extension to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

“This is the first step on our expansion journey into Africa where we will go from Oman directly to Somalia and then extend the cable further into Africa to Ethiopia,” said Sohail Qadir, Vice President Omantel Wholesale. “These two highly under-served countries will soon be connected to our international low- latency network, gain access to all the content hosted in Oman with Omantel and consume services from Europe and Southeast Asia,” continued Mr. Qadir.

G2A will be a new low-latency cable system with the purpose of bringing content closer to end-users in Africa and providing Somalia and Ethiopia with much needed Internet capacity and access to global cloud services and applications. The subsea part will run from Salalah, Oman, to both Bosaso in Somalia and Berbera in Somaliland. From Salalah, a terrestrial route through Oman will interconnect with all of Omantel’s nine submarine cable systems, soon to be twelve, with some of them the largest in the world connecting the Middle East with the Far East, Europe and North America. Omantel also hosts a wide range of content and cloud providers in Oman serving the Middle East region from their central hubs in Oman, all which will be available to the G2A system.

“This is a fascinating project, first of its kind, where we will benefit from Omantel’s international network stretching around the globe to bring tremendous change in the region as access to high quality and affordable Internet services affects all aspects of peoples’ lives and their way of thinking”, said Mr. Abdikarim Mohamed Eid CEO of Telesom Company. “At the same time we will gain access to the main Internet hubs in the world, the countries on Omantel’s international network will become available through G2A to serve enterprise customers in Eastern Africa”, added Mr. Andualem Admassie, CEO of Ethio Telecom.

Xtera will supply its turnkey 100G/100G+ submarine cable system solution for this project, including subsea optical repeaters, Nu-Wave Optima^TM Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE), cable and all marine services. Xtera’s subsea repeaters, engineered around a number of electrical, optical and mechanical innovations, use Raman optical amplification to produce very low noise levels for maximal repeater spacing and offer wide spectrum for higher system capacity.

“We are extremely pleased to be selected by G2A consortium to build this new submarine cable system as a further validation of our turnkey offering of high-performance, high-reliability cable systems based on our innovative repeater,” said Jon Hopper, President and Chief Executive Officer of Xtera. “This new build project is a perfect illustration of Xtera’s innovative, flexible solutions for deploying new subsea infrastructure or upgrading existing cable assets under water.”

Designed for 20 Tbit/s of capacity with the latest 100G technology, the G2A system will optimize the connectivity costs in Africa and add much needed capacity to an under-served and fast growing region. “Today we are mainly relying on satellite communication for our Internet needs; G2A will dramatically change the end-user experience and enable new types of low-latency services both for the residential and corporate sectors”, said Mr. Abdulaziz Gureye Karshe, Chairman of the Board of Golis.

G2A will be ready for service in Q4-2016.