SubTel Forum Magazine #122- Global Outlook

FEATURE: 7 QUESTIONS WITH GIL SANTALIZ

Talking Technology Trends with NJFX’s CEO

1. WHAT IS NJFX’S MISSION?

Our Mission is to grow our existing secure layer-one fiber ecosystem infrastructure providing global reliability and diversity to the foundation of the internet and global mission critical connectivity. Today, NJFX serves over 30 network operators across five subsea cables, 20 terrestrial cables interconnecting Europe, South America and the Caribbean and over 300 ASN’s in a global internet exchange from Wall, NJ in the USA.

2. HOW DOES NJFX PARTICIPATE IN THE SUBMARINE CABLE MARKET?

NJFX is a Communication Infrastructure marketplace where layer one submarine providers, terrestrial fiber networks, Internet Exchanges, CDN’s and global networks interexchange network traffic. The Submarine cable market can depend on this carrier neutral existing collocation CLS infrastructure to deploy its SLTE operating with a higher rate of availability and performance than extending out on a single terrestrial backhaul ring system. These extensions to other network hubs which aren’t purpose built introduce new failure points reducing uptime and exposing national security threats to subsea systems. As an active participant in this subsea industry, NJFX actively participates in trade shows to grow an ecosystem supporting the diversity of the subsea systems it hosts. In 2021, NJFX reached critical mass with physical carrier infrastructure assets of subsea, terrestrial cables & carriers POP’s to support the needed diversity for “Never Down” solutions.

3. IS NJFX CURRENTLY INVOLVED WITH MANY NEW SUBMARINE CABLE PROJECTS?

NJFX is always active with multiple new subsea projects working their way to “CIF” Contract in Force. These development projects look to eliminate risk and provide a clear path to deployment with a 25 year horizon of operations. Our design allows for decades of concurrent maintainability without planned outages for a layering of subsea systems at various stages of their life cycles.

4. WHAT MAKES NJFX UNIQUE IN THE SUBMARINE SYSTEM MARKET?

NJFX is the only Tier3 Carrier Neutral CLS Campus in North America. The CLS was purpose built in 2016 at 64 ft above sea level with a Hurricane 5 resistant design, Tier3 electrical & cooling infrastructure, 2N electric distribution & UPS, four diverse POE’s, profes- sional Meet Me Rooms for carrier-neutral interconnectivity and access to existing diverse North & South front haul conduits to beach manholes with bore pipes. Understanding the critical importance of security, our collocation Tier3 by the Subsea CLS collocation facility includes mantraps, level 3 ballistic proof walls, dual authentic biometric access system and redundant site access control rooms with closed circuit BMS/Security Cameras. It is uniquely designed for secure collocation with high density options offering a variety of fiber routes by-passing the non-purpose built traditional carrier hotels.

5. WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF NJFX’S SUCCESS?

Patient capital is important in the development of the right infrastructure. Willingness to spend capital upfront with the end in mind is not the norm in the communications industry today. Concerns over the bubble of the “dotcom” days speculative capital is scarce and traditional business cases don’t support long-term infrastructure. In addition, supporting the subsea industry which is cross connect intensive by not charging MRC’s is fundamental for the ecosystem success. Maintaining carrier neutrality and not competing with your customers allows for the trust required to collaborate in growing a healthy ecosystem.

6. AS SUSTAINABILITY HAS BECOME A HOT BUTTON ISSUE IN OUR INDUSTRY, WHAT ARE NJFX’S PLANS FOR SUSTAINABLE OPERATION FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS?

Sustainability and being eco-friendly is an obligation we have to our future generations. NJFX is proud of its current carbon free utility service and looking forward to NJ completing the largest offshore wind project in the US. Today LED lights with motion sensors, roof top cooling units with economizer options to support 4 months of free colling, cold isle containment and 17ft ceiling heights on each floor provide efficiency in maintaining consistent temp & humidity SLA’s.

Proactively auditing and coordinating threat assessments, this relationship is supported locally at the state & federal level and is a partnership that conforms to U.S. critical infrastructure.

7. WHAT IS NEXT FOR NJFX?

Celebrating our customers success and growing the NJFX ecosystem is always front and center. As we continue through our master plan of phased growth, we look forward to adding new facilities, providing additional physical NJFX redundancies. Our operations team has a deep understanding and experience level on the various Ciena, Infinera and new Cisco SLTE & DWDM platforms. Certifications from the manufacturers to support their OEM warranty services would lower customer costs and expedite response time. In addition, NJFX actively participates in hardening its facility with our U.S. Department of Homeland Security protective services teams. Proactively auditing and coordinating threat assessments, this relationship is supported locally at the state & federal level and is a partnership that conforms to U.S. critical infrastructure. Using these security standards and coordinating backbone breakouts of internet traffic with over 20 physical routes will provide the internet a higher level of reliability thanthe traditional carrier hotels in urban environments. The internet is no longer a nice to have in our society as everything goes online. In 2022, NJFX will support the latency sensitive market by deploying wireless infrastructure for microwave and cellular services. STF

GIL SANTALIZ is the Founder and CEO of NJFX, as well as the visionary behind the development of NJFX as North America’s preeminent international hub for subsea communications. By interconnecting OTT’s, international carriers and multinational enterprise networks across three continents with over 20 US physical backhaul fiber options is unique.

In order to satisfy the market, Mr. Santaliz developed the concept of “Tier 3 by the Subsea,” with a concurrently maintainable design for cooling and power. Keeping NJFX focused on the carrier neutral business and security it can provide enhanced interconnection reliability with a professional “MMR” Meet Me Room services and colocation for its subsea systems. The worlds largest global backbone networks can securely transition across the various unique metro and long-haul fiber network assets with bypass options around cities and non-secure carrier hotels. This is a paradigm shift from traditional backhaul to the nearest non-purpose-built Carrier Hotel bottlenecks found in congested areas such as New York City and northern New Jersey.

Mr. Santaliz was previously the CEO, Founder and Managing Member of 4Connections LLC, a metro fiber network provider he founded in 2001. Under Mr. Santaliz’s leadership, 4Connections pioneered the deployment of carrier-neutral dark fiber services for both New Jersey and New York City. In 2008, Mr. Santaliz successfully exited the business in a pre-emptive transaction with Lightpath, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cablevision. Prior to founding 4Connections, Mr. Santaliz, who has over two decades in the communications industry, was General Manager of a joint venture company between GPU Telecom and Telergy, which leased dark fiber network. During his early career, Mr. Santaliz held several management positions at the Williams Company and PSE&G. He began his career at MCI in New York, Atlanta and Mexico City. Recently, Mr. Santaliz served as a member of the Foundation for Morristown Medical Center Board of Trustees as well as the Morristown-Beard School Executive Board. He has also served as Interim CEO of fiber companies such as 24/7 Fiber Network and supported private equity groups such as Spire Capital through acquisition strategies. Today he also a member of the Submarine Networks EMEA and the PTC Advisory Council Mr. Santaliz received his Bachelor of Science from Cornell University.

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