Networks

Jun 11, 2019

Do Human Senses Provide the Ultimate Cap on Bandwidth?

Our thirst for bandwidth must have a ceiling. It just must.

In our first-ever user-submitted myth, Chief Engineer of the Australia-Japan Cable Phil Murphy asked our experts a tough one. If it were possible to create the ultimate VR device that delivered a fully-immersive experience—catering to all possible sensory inputs—what would the bandwidth be and would our own senses create a cap?

In short: will sensory overload dictate an eventual bandwidth ceiling?

Jun 7, 2019

Will Fiber Pairs Become the New Coin of the Realm?

Have you heard that submarine cable fiber pairs will eventually become a standard unit of purchase? I have. And it prompted me to roll up my sleeves and do some fact-checking.

Are people going to be buying fiber pairs? Will carriers? Enterprises?

Jun 4, 2019

Are Current Industry Practices Enough to Accommodate Future Capacity Requirements?

The submarine cable industry’s current practices will sustain our future capacity requirements. We definitely have enough capacity to take us well into the future. Right?

May 30, 2019

Does 70% of the World’s Internet Traffic Flow Through Virginia?

Have you heard the one about 70% of the world’s internet traffic flowing through northern Virginia? This factoid has been cited in The Washington Post and Business Insider, among other major publications and government websites.

This statistic always seemed a little unlikely to us, so we sought out a few different ways to test its validity.

May 28, 2019

We See Subsea EMEA 2019 on the Horizon. (And a 10% Discount for Our Readers!)

This July Subsea EMEA returns to Marseille for its third year, bringing together leaders from more than 150 companies. 

May 20, 2019

What Now, WhatsApp?

New month, new headlines.

Our team has been reading about the recent WhatsApp exploit. The experts at Motherboard and BBC both have articles worthy of your time, especially if you're looking for candid conversations about security, spyware, and encryption. 

May 16, 2019

Key Trends in an Evolving Global Bandwidth Sector

What does the future hold for the global bandwidth market? The two most predictable trends are persistent demand growth and price erosion.

Beyond that, operators will have to navigate major uncertainties in continuing to move forward in an evolving sector. Here are a few of the key trends, among many, that will affect the long-haul capacity market in the coming years.

Apr 23, 2019

How Do You Fit More Data into a Cable?

Google and SubCom are turning to space-division multiplexing within their new Dunant cable. The pair is angling to engineer the fastest fiber-optic cable of it's kind. (We can talk about whether or not new submarine cables are really giving us faster internet another time.)

Mar 25, 2019

Webinar: Side-Stepping Shannon’s Limit With SDM Cables

Even as coherent modem technology continues to innovate, the amount of data that can be carried over today’s networks shows no signs of slowing. 

Despite all this modem magic, we can’t ignore the laws of physics. We’re quickly approaching the Shannon Limit–the maximum information-carrying capacity of a submarine cable optical fiber pair.

What new alternatives are on the horizon to side-step this inevitability? 

Mar 21, 2019

This Month the Cable Market is Booming with Big Tech, Setting Internet Speed Records

Wow—a lot of submarine cable news this month.

From a deep dive into global communication from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal's exploration of the Huawei case, there's a lot for any telecom fiend to take in.

We'll keep the fanfare brief. Keep scrolling to read these stories, as well as a Popular Science post about a new internet speed record, Bloomberg's profile on big tech in telecom, and the best SD-WAN conversation you'll hear all week.