Monthly Review
Submarine Power Cable Contract Awards

This is our latest monthly review of submarine power cable contract awards for 2013.  The market was strong last year with an average of two new contract awards announced each month and 2013 is growing at an even higher rate.

While 2013 has been a very strong year so far, things have slowed during the summer, with no new contracts announced in June and only one in July. In spite of this, the first seven months of the year have seen 17 contracts, exceeding the 2012 pace of two per month.  It also totals more than 750 route-kilometers of new cable.

The table below lists the contracts awarded so far for 2013.

New Submarine Cable Systems

PITA invites comments on ways to fund Pacific island cables

The Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association is inviting comments on ways to fund submarine fiber optic cables to small, remote islands nations in the Pacific.  PITA and its members strongly feel that the region is greatly lacking the key regional benchmarking data and country case study that would not only help them in implementing new initiatives but also to help the regions leaders and officials in planning for an effective reformation of the local and regional telecom industry.

The small Island economies are much too fragile to absorb the failure and financial loss resulting from expensive, large-scale initiatives, such as submarine cables, without conducive and sustainable enablers.

It is with this view that PITA is seeking collaboration with potential partners and wish to invite interested individuals or donors to work or co-fund on such projects with PITA who can facilitate coordinate regionally. PITA hopes to announce progress shortly.

Anyone wishing to comment is invited to email PITA at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

International Carriers

Telstra Global joins Cloud Industry Forum

Telstra Global has become the latest name to join the growing membership of the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF). Telstra Global is a division of leading Australia-based, tier 1 telecommunications and media services company, Telstra Corporation Limited, and recently announced it would offer cloud infrastructure services from data centers in Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom, expanding and complementing services available in Telstra’s Australian data centers.

Martin Bishop, Global Head of Hosting Services at Telstra Global, said, “When customers source and implement cloud services on a global scale, we’ve discovered that they are often faced with a wall of complexity that arises due to the challenges associated with data security, coverage and interoperability, local infrastructure and culture.”

“The developments and innovations occurring in the cloud computing space are very exciting, with new services being launched and partnerships being forged at a rapid pace. But cloud providers must remain focused on solving the customer’s requirements while providing consistency and clarity within their service offerings,” he added.

“Complexity in the cloud universe doesn’t need to be a barrier to global businesses gleaning benefits from it. That is why we are pleased to support the Cloud Industry Forum and its drive to adopt an industry-wide Code of Practice that helps to provide end-users with a clear path to achieving cloud computing success,” he continued.

Alex Hilton, CEO of CIF, said, “The cloud industry has enjoyed enormous growth over the last few years, but end users continue to express concerns about data security, data privacy and sovereignty. Clearly, the cloud industry needs to provide more clarity and practical guidance to allay these natural concerns. To this end, we are working with our members to improve education and encourage the commitment by CSPs to best practice in accountability, capability and transparency, in the form of our Code of Practice. This is a view shared by Telstra, who, in joining in the Cloud Industry Forum, will help us achieve that goal for the benefit of the industry as a whole.”