Did SubOptic 2007 Herald the Rise of Supplier Power? By Stewart Ash
SubOptic 2007 was held in Baltimore Maryland between 14th and 17th May inclusive. The conference itself included 3 keynote addresses, 3 round table forums, 8 oral presentations, 10 tutorials, a poster session and the usual supplier’s exhibition. In addition, each evening there were sponsored receptions providing plenty of opportunity to network. Not to mention the informal gatherings at the ubiquitous “Irish Pub”, in this case the James Joyce. As a consultant, I would have to consider
the conference an unqualified success, as it afforded me the opportunity to hear about the latest issues challenging the great and the good of submarine fibre optics industry and to catch up with ex-colleagues and old friends to canvas their views on the current state of our market. For me, SubOptic 2007 was encapsulated in Richard Karlgaard’s keynote speech on Thursday 17th May. Paraphrasing, his message was, that at the macro level, all the economic
indicators tend to show that telecoms in general, and submarine cables in particular, has a very healthy future. However, he also forecast that this growth would inevitably come through continued change to the market model. In other words the way business is conducted in the future will be very different from the way it is carried out today. Some companies will thrive, some will survive and some will go under, depending on the strategies they adopt in the coming months and years. So, for individual companies it’s good news if you get it right and bad news if you get it wrong. The stability of the pre-boom industry is gone forever and therefore the challenge for most delegates in the auditorium was to try and glean some hint from what he was saying that would indicate whether or not their companies were getting it right. In summary, I think his view was that the future is bright, if uncertain, but it will be exciting as long as you are prepared to embrace change and take some risks. So what were the major drivers for change in the market model that manifested themselves during SubOptic 2007? Well, for me, there were three that stood out, that could, and probably will, initiate significant change. These are the future profitability of the system supplier base, potential expansion of the market to incorporate non-traditional applications and future provision of marine maintenance services.
31