Latin American Pricing Takeaways From ITW

Last month, the TeleGeography team joined scores of ICT infrastructure professionals in National Harbor, Maryland for International Telecommunications Week.

One of the many topics discussed was price erosion in Latin America. The main trend likely comes as no surprise: prices keep falling. But there is nuance to how price erosion is occurring in different markets.

Let’s explore the context in more detail.

Has Geopolitical Conflict Between China and the U.S. Caused Their Networks to Disconnect?

Let’s talk about geopolitical conflict between China and the U.S. and how it’s affecting the network. Has it caused the two countries to disconnect?

How Many Submarine Cables Are There, Anyway?

TeleGeography’s Submarine Cable Map recently hit a new milestone: depicting over 550 cable systems.

As of June 2023, that’s a whopping 485 in-service systems, with another 70 planned.

The number of cable systems we study is constantly increasing. This is due to massive investment in this infrastructure—both along major routes and to small islands—as well as our ongoing efforts to track global systems in more detail.

Still, the number of in-service systems is greater now than in any other year within the last two decades.

Lessons Learned From Season 4: Telecom History, Investing, & More

Over the past few weeks, we've been revisiting the latest episodes of TeleGeography Explains the Internet with a Season 4 recap.

To conclude the series, here are six clips from the podcast—each under three minutes—that we think will teach you something interesting. First up: how accurate is Epcot's history of communications?

Why Are Submarine Cables Being Rerouted?

What has the TeleGeography team been reading lately?

First up on our list: a Foreign Policy piece explaining why new submarine cables are not connecting the U.S. and China.

We also pulled some stories that have been making the rounds in our Slack channels, from a very special birthday to a unique liquidation sale.

Lessons Learned From Season 4: Submarine Cables & AI

Although TeleGeography Explains the Internet explores all areas of the global business of connectivity, there are some hot topics that demand extra attention.

Submarine cables and artificial intelligence are two examples. Both are heavily covered in the press and on everyone's minds right now—including our podcast guests.

Here are some highlights pulled from Season 4. Listen as experts weigh in on utilizing subsea cables as seismic monitoring networks, using AI in network monitoring, and more.

Is This the Greatest Shortcoming of the Human Race?

At SubOptic 2023, my colleague Tim Stronge and I brought back the Telecom Mythbusters to test a new series of myths.

I already covered my first two myths from our presentation: the cable lifespan myth and the 99% myth.

My third and final myth—the exponential growth myth—is based upon a quote that I found.

“The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.” –Albert Allen Bartlett

Lessons Learned From Season 4: Security Edition

As we explored the global business of connectivity throughout Season 4 of TeleGeography Explains the Internet, network security was a recurring theme.

Here’s what five experts—including AT&T’s Software Defined Cybersecurity Evangelist, Arelion’s Chief Evangelist, Aryaka’s Chief Product Officer, and two TeleGeography Senior Research Managers—want you to know.

Shaw Thing: Canadian Merger Finally a Done Deal

A long-running telecom saga came to an end last month with the conclusion of the C$25 billion ($18.4 billion) merger between Canadian operators Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications.

Lessons Learned From Season 4: Podcast Recap, Part 2

In honor of the upcoming fifth season of TeleGeography Explains the Internet, we’re running you through the highlights of all 25 episodes from Season 4, five at a time.

Revisit part one to watch clips on energy conservation in the fiber optic space, the resurgence of satellite, the changing nature of technology, and more.