Connectivity by satellite is not new, but expanding networks via low earth orbit (LEO) is a recent phenomenon receiving lots of investment.
As interest in LEO connectivity has grown, the number of companies looking to establish themselves in the market has also gone up. However, in recent conversations with satellite industry leaders, we’ve heard speculation that the market may have reached a saturation point.
That means mergers, acquisitions, and market consolidation are likely to occur. In fact, some of that has already begun to unfold.
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?
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.
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?
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
“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.
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.
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