Hyderabad, November 20:
Apart from being a telecom/data traffic carrier, the
submarine cable systems of Japanese IT firm NEC Corporation, which link
one land mass to another thousands of kilometres apart, also double up
to monitor seismic activity, helping predict earthquakes and tsunami
from the deep-sea floor.
Shota Masuda, Senior
Manager, Head of Sales, Submarine Network Division, NEC, said the
undersea cable industry, estimated to be worth over $2.5-3 billion,
continues to offer opportunities to further strengthen the network.
The
$25-billion turnover of the Japanese company, which has a market share
of over 30 per cent in submarine cable systems, has been innovatively
using these cable networks for earthquakes and tsunami alerts through
sensors based on the seabed.
“These ultra-long haul
transmission lines over transoceanic distances are reliable and stable
for over 25 years. Often, these are located about 8,000 metres under the
sea. Harnessing the potential of these cables, we also offer earthquake
and tsunami alerts,” Masuda explained.
Big shift
The
ratio of submarine cable to satellite for use of communication, which
was 50:50 in 1995, has gradually shifted to 99 per cent submarine and
only 1 per cent satellite.
For instance, in the
Tokyo-Los Angeles cable link, which is 9,000-km long, the Tokyo to Los
Angeles link through satellite has to traverse 72,000 km, which is eight
times the cable link, bringing about latency in the system, Masuda said
during the NEC Expo in Japan. “As a company which designs, develops,
manufactures cables and related systems, we also serve as a deployment
partner for various operators. We are closely watching the progress of a
BSNL tender in India which seeks to connect Chennai to the Andamans,”
he said.
As a supplier and deployer of submarine
cable systems, NEC has been involved in many major projects, such as
faster cable network of 11,500 km, SEA-ME-WE-5 cable system of 20,000
km, South Asia-United States Cable System of 14,500 km and South
Atlantic Cable System of 6,200 km.
It has seen growing interest for these networks as the demand for bandwidth is set to grow due to the data explosion.
Cable capacity
The
latest submarine cables can carry up to 80 terabytes of information per
second. This is equivalent to 1.2 billion voice circuits per cable or
2,100 DVDs (each of 4.7 GB) transmitted in one second.
As data explodes, the demand for data centres will go up. This will call for more cable networks worldwide, Masuda said.
The writer was in Tokyo at the invitation of NEC Corporation
