Networks

Jun 12, 2023

2023 Update: Industry Practices and Future Capacity Requirements

In 2019, my colleague Alan Mauldin and I busted the myth that the submarine cable industry’s current practices would sustain our future capacity requirements. 

Four years later, we revisited the same question during our telecom mythbusting session at SubOptic 2023. Was the verdict the same?

Jun 7, 2023

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.

Jun 5, 2023

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?

May 18, 2023

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

May 4, 2023

Do Submarine Cables Account For Over 99% of Intercontinental Data Traffic?

“Submarine cables account for over 99% of intercontinental data traffic” is regularly quoted in the press with no source given.

It’s time for some fact-checking.

Apr 20, 2023

Is the Lifespan of a Submarine Cable Really 25 Years?

“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.

Apr 18, 2023

What Happens to Cables When The Earth Moves Under Our Feet?

How are submarine cables impacted by tectonic shifts beneath the seafloor?

This week's guests on TeleGeography Explains the Internet are well-positioned to tell us. They join us from the UK’s National Oceanography Centre: Isobel Yeo, Researcher in Geology and Volcanology, and Michael Clare, Principal Researcher of Ocean BioGeoscience and Marine Environmental Adviser to the International Cable Protection Committee

Mike and Izzy are geologists specializing in the seafloor, so their research has become vital for the submarine cable community.

Apr 6, 2023

Do $10 Trillion of Financial Transactions Flow Over Submarine Cables Each Day?

The press regularly reports that $10 trillion of financial transactions flow over submarine cables every day. But is this true?

 

To properly tackle this claim, we need to test two things.

Mar 14, 2023

Confessions of a Telecom Investor

On TeleGeography Explains the Internet, I typically interview guests who work in the telecom industry or manage telecoms at large enterprises.

Not this week!

Meet Aaron Chan, Founder and Managing Partner at Recurve Capital. As an investor in the “technology media and telecom” space—or “TMT” as they say in finance circles—Aaron has something of an outside perspective.

Mar 1, 2023

Disruptions in the Data Center Market

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.