“The lifespan of a submarine cable is 25 years.” We’ve all heard that, right?
Is this statement really a fact, or is it fiction? Let’s find out.
The global data center market is under an unprecedented squeeze as we move into 2023.
On one hand, we have a long-term challenge surrounding the sustainability of the industry’s growth trajectory in essential hub markets. On the other, we have an acute short-term problem with energy prices in the colocation sector.
These issues combine to create an uncomfortable phase in the market right now.
Twenty years ago, the United States was very much at the center of the global internet.
In 2003, 98% of all interregional internet capacity and 42% of all international internet bandwidth was connected to the U.S. despite emerging intraregional capacity in Europe and Asia.
Submarine cables helped to enforce this centrality, and the highest capacity cables were connected to the U.S. Around this time, the U.S. was also among the cheapest places to connect to the internet.
So what’s happened to the U.S.’s role? Is the U.S. becoming less centric to the global network?
Historically, the two most predictable trends in the bandwidth market have been consistent demand growth and price erosion. But those trends have been challenged over the past few years.
Recent supply chain issues and geopolitical challenges have dramatically slowed price erosion globally. For the first time, we're asking ourselves, are prices actually increasing?
As telecom analysts, my TeleGeography colleagues and I have been busy attending conferences and gathering market intelligence from many of the most prominent telecom companies around the world.
Recently, our travels took us to São Paulo and Mexico City for the Futurecom and Mexico Connect 2022 conferences.
There’s a lot going on in both the Brazilian and Mexican markets, so let’s recap some of the discussion themes that stood out.
Some pretty ominous headlines have been circulating around the world lately regarding the risk of a global recession and the ongoing threat of inflation.
At TeleGeography, we've received several questions about how these economic indicators could impact the submarine cable industry.
In particular, people are curious to know if slowing economic growth impair international bandwidth demand growth on subsea cables. And will inflation lead to rising international bandwidth prices?
Specifically, which applications and network operators have latency on their minds?
Well, content providers, gaming companies, financial enterprises, and cloud service providers, to name a few.
TeleGeography Senior Analyst Paul Brodsky recently joined experts from Ciena and Angola Cables for an hour-long discussion centered around Connecting to Africa with Low-Latency Services.
Anyone who follows the submarine cable sector knows that a lot of cables have been built in recent years—and investments in new cables keep coming.
I gave a presentation at Submarine Networks World 2019 in Singapore titled "Is Your Planned Submarine Cable Doomed?" My goal was not to identify particular planned cables that I think are doomed to fail, but rather to highlight some of the key flaws we often see when assessing cable operator business plans on behalf of investors.
I'm a cynic and you can be one, too!
This was the title of Tim Stronge's presentation during a recent webinar we did with our friends at Ciena.
Our favorite neighborhood cynic came bearing an important public service announcement for webinar attendees: just because you see a flashy slide deck or press release about a new submarine cable doesn't mean it's going to happen.
The rapid pace of demand growth is only going to require more international bandwidth in the coming years. While there's certainly lots of investment in new systems, cables built in the late 1990s and early 2000s continue to play a key role in global connectivity. But are their days numbered?
It seems more likely than ever that some of these cables will soon become "extinct" as they are retired from service.
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