FEATURE
THE EVOLUTION OF CABLE NETWORK MONITORING AND SENSING Sensing-As-A-Service and Seismic Detection BY RAJ JAYAWARDENA
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t’s hard to think of a better proof point for growth and ambition amongst the submarine cable community than a quick look at the annual SubTel Cable Map update that shows an increase of fifty-five cable landings, twenty-two new cable systems, $1.2 billion investment and 26,300 miles of new cable laid over the last year. The stats are mind-boggling in terms of miles of fiber estimated to have been installed – 3 billion, with 800,000+ miles of dedicated submarine capacity and 500+ active dedicated cables linking continents. The pace of deployments continues at speed and scale. SEA-ME-WE3, now the longest of the fiber links, spans more than 17,000 miles linking South-East Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe. While the growth rates and related metrics are impressive, it is important to consider the emerging uses and potential applications of the fiber optic infrastructure. This is a crucial issue for the telecommunications sector, particularly for subsea investors and operators. It is clear that we must utilize the resources already in place effectively, given the constraints and efficiency demands of global commerce.
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SUBMARINE TELECOMS MAGAZINE
GLOBAL ESG DRIVERS CHALLENGE ALL SECTORS – ESPECIALLY OURS
Doing more with less has been a familiar theme in how the ICT community approaches innovation and change. The wider community also now sees technological advancements as central to tackling collective challenges and, in particular, the existential crises of our time – how to respond and adapt to limit the impacts of climate change. A simple example of how quickly technology can help meet these challenges was evident during the recent/ongoing Covid pandemic. As international travel shut down and civilian aircraft movements virtually evaporated overnight, we saw a massive increase in demand for bandwidth and connectivity as face-to-face interactions moved online. In fact, 2020 was the only year on record where co2 emissions dropped largely due to the reduction in fossil fuels typically burnt through transportation (Nature.com https://rdcu. be/c1p0u ) and the replacement of many physical human movements with online interactions. Fiber networks played a crucial role in enabling a shift to remote work during the pandemic and are anticipated to