Submarine Systems Maintenance in Today’s Market
in question, and financing sources have largely deserted the submarine market – for the moment.
Certainty There will be but a handful of new systems installed over the next few years, thus placing an increased demand on incumbent systems to offer secure, reliable, restored and wellmaintained capacity. l Faults will continue to happen, thus placing increased pressure on maintenance contractors to provide a secure and reliable service. l
By Jim Byous I first discussed the concept of an “opex-driven environment” in a submarine symposium presentation this past June, and at that time gave it the working title “Things you can actually do something about now that it’s all gone horribly wrong in the market”. The thrust of this discussion is that in the current market there are few variables on the cost or pricing side which the network owner can control, but the cost of submarine maintenance is one of them, and is coincidentally a cost which is threatening the survival of many network owners, both new and incumbent.
How has the submarine market changed – the Op-ex environment? The current submarine telecom business environment is defined both by uncertainty about the structure and financial foundation of the near-term market, and by certainty that these unknowns will bring new pressures to the industry.
Uncertainty Which of today’s players will be there tomorrow? A concern of both owners and contractors, affecting both parties’ ability to align future strategies through strategic relationships. l The ability of operators to construct a credible business plan is very much l
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O&M costs and system economic life In the robust capacity market of years past, undersea maintenance costs were a far less prominent feature of the business model than they are today. As such, the planning and procurement of undersea maintenance was often treated as an after-thought, far overshadowed by the more immediate concerns around the procurement of system supply and installation. Today’s situation, however, couldn’t be more different. Transatlantic capacity pricing