ANALYTICS
BY KIERAN CLARK
SUBMARINE TELECOMS MARKET SECTOR REPORT: Finance & Legal Edition
T
o address the growing reporting and analysis needs of the submarine fiber industry, STF Analytics continues its Market Sector Report series – designed to provide the industry with the information it needs to make informed business decisions. The Submarine Telecoms Market Sector Report is a bi-monthly product covering a specific sector of the submarine fiber industry, coinciding with the theme of each issue of the SubTel Forum Magazine. The fourth edition of this report provides an in-depth look into the finance & legal aspect of the submarine fiber industry. STF Analytics collected and analyzed data derived from a variety of public, commercial and scientific sourc-
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SUBMARINE TELECOMS MAGAZINE
es to best analyze and project market conditions. While every care is taken in preparing this report, these are our best estimates based on information provided and discussed in this industry.
The way systems are being financed sustains a shift towards single owners. This trend was first observed in 2015 and has since continued to move in this direction.
The following Executive Summary provides an overview of the topics addressed in this month’s report.
Executive Summary
Since 1991, $41.8 billion has been invested in submarine fiber optic telecommunication cables — comprising more than 1.16 million route kilometers — annually averaging $1.5 billion worth of investment and 41,500 kilometers of deployed systems. Historically, consortia have been responsible for the bulk of new system investment. However, in recent years there has been a noticeable shift towards more private and Multilateral Development Bank (MDB)