New TransPacific Cable Projects:

Sat Sep 22 10:30:54 UTC 2007

On Sep 22, 2007, at 5:26 AM, Rod Beck wrote:

> It is not obvious to me that there is a Pacific cable capacity  
> glut. For example, I sold a DS3 from LA to Hong Kong for $6K MRC  
> whereas the last time a wholesale TransAtlantic DS3 rivaled that  
> figure was 2001.
>

Not to mention that the Taiwan straits earthquake showed a clear lack  
of physical
diversity on a number of important Pacific routes, which I know some  
companies are laying fiber to address.

Regards
Marshall

> Now you could argue that one needs to look at pricing on a mileage- 
> adjusted basis since the typical TransPacific cable spans a much  
> greater distance than its TransAtlantic counterpart.
>
> But operating costs are not proportional to mileage - the bulk of  
> your operating expense is what you pay the undersea maintenance  
> companies such as Global Marine and Tyco Submarine and Alcatel. And  
> their annual charges are not very sensitive to distance.
>
> What is peculiar about the Pacific is the lack of new products. For  
> example, it's extremely difficult to get any Ethernet transport on  
> many routes such as LA/Sydney or into India.
>
> Yes, there is some Ethernet/IP junk, but that doesn't meet most of  
> my clients' performance standards. It is IP masquerading as Ethernet.
>
> In fact, it is very difficult to find Packet-over-SDH Ethernet even  
> on the all-important LA/HK route.
>
> To sum up, I do believe the median Pacific cable enjoys a  
> substantial margin advantage over the median Atlantic
>
> There is only TransAtlantic cable that is particularly well right  
> now, largely due to its unique physical diversity and footprint.
>
> Roderick S. Beck
> Director of EMEA Sales
> Hibernia Atlantic
> 1, Passage du Chantier, 75012 Paris
> http://www.hiberniaatlantic.com
> Wireless: 1-212-444-8829.
> Landline: 33-1-4346-3209.
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> AOL Messenger: GlobalBandwidth
> rod.beck at hiberniaatlantic.com
> rodbeck at erols.com
> ``Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of  
> truth.'' Albert Einstein.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-nanog at merit.edu on behalf of Deepak Jain
> Sent: Sat 9/22/2007 12:44 AM
> To: nanog list
> Subject: New TransPacific Cable Projects:
>
>
>
> This is what happens when I stay late at the office on a Friday.
>
> http://www.commsday.com/node/186 - Google participating in a new
> Transpacific Cable Project
>
> http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/121806-verizon-business.html -
> Verizon on a different transpacific project
>
>
> And all the same articles say there is already an overpriced glut of
> capacity along these routes and a glut of fiber laying ocean vessels.
>
> Good times. Rather than having competition, everyone is just building
> their own routes that they won't share at wholesale prices to folks in
> the wholesale buying business. :)
>
> Ahh... reminds me of the late 90s when everyone was building dark  
> fiber
> networks for the surge of demand that was coming. Now, the remaining
> folks are buying up all the unused bits to constrain capacity.
>
> If I were a stakeholder in transpacific cables, I'd be leasing up the
> next 3-6 years of the entire global cable laying fleet. :)
>
> Deepak Jain
> AiNET
>
>
>
>
>
>
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