Submarine cables form the very backbone of the internet, by facilitating the world’s connectivity as over 98% of all data and voice communications traverse along this ocean-spanning critical network infrastructure. 

Rapid technological advancements such as 4G and 5G mobile networks, the introduction of new data-intensive applications like 4K & 8K streaming video/TV, the rising popularity of social media platforms, and the escalating adoption of cloud computing underpin the importance of the global submarine cable network; transmitting light across the oceans to enable the world to function in today’s fast-moving, data-driven global digital economy.

TE SubCom said that it has signed the South Pacific Marine Maintenance Agreement (SPMMA) with 14 cable operators in the South Pacific region to maintain over 51,000 km of cable that constitutes 19 disparate telecommunications and power cable systems. The SPMMA area includes the South Pacific region from Singapore in the west to Tahiti in the east, and from New Zealand at the southernmost point to Hawaii in the north, says TE SubCom.

SEACOM, has upgraded its SEACOM submarine cable system from its Southern and Eastern African coastline landings into Europe at a total capacity of 1.5Tbps. The current upgrade is adding 500G of new capacity on the SEACOM submarine cable system, after a previous upgrade of 500G about 18 months ago. This further upgrade falls in line with SEACOM’s focus on driving the development of the African internet and opening the broadband tap for African service providers and business users.

[Tianjin, China, June 5, 2018] Super SEA Cable Networks Pte Ltd (SEAX), together with the supplier Huawei International and Huawei Marine Networks, today announced that following successful completion of construction and end-to-end testing, the SEAX-1 Cable System has achieved RFPA (Ready for Provisional Acceptance) on 29 May 2018.

Telstra recently announced it has expanded its world-first ‘Always On’ service to provide more bandwidth options and lower latency on some of Asia’s busiest subsea cable routes – Hong Kong to Singapore and Japan to Hong Kong. The service utilises the unmatched scale and diversity of Telstra’s cable network in the Asia Pacific region to reroute traffic to another path, even in the event of a cable cut or damage due to a natural disaster.

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Angola Cables has added additional peering points at the following international locations: IX.BR São Paulo and Fortaleza, Equinix Ashburn and Miami (formerly NOTA) and NIIX and De-CIX in New York. Angola Cables owns and operates the South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) connecting Angola and Fortaleza in Brazil, the world's first submarine cable system across the South Atlantic. Angola Cables also owns two dedicated fiber pairs in the Monet cable system connecting Boca Raton, Florida to both Fortaleza and Santos, Brazil. The Monet cable system has been fully launched for service, while the SACS is going to be ready for service in the third quarter 2018. 

According to Ellalink, EMACOM and EllaLink have signed a contract committing to connect the islands of Madeira with a dedicated fibre pair on the EllaLink Submarine cable system.

According to Angola Cables, the Monet cable system has been completed and fully operational as of May 8, 2018. The Monet cable system spans 10556 km,  connecting Boca Raton, Florida to both Fortaleza and Santos, Brazil. The 6-fibre-pair Monet cable has an initial design capacity of greater than or equal to 64Tbps.

EdgeConneX® announced recently that Seaborn Networks ("Seaborn") has selected its Buenos Aires Edge Data Center Edge Data Cener® (EDC) as the Point-of-Presence (PoP) in Argentina for Seaborn's ARBR submarine cable. Interconnection with Seaborn's new ARBR submarine cable linking Argentina and Brazil will provide cross connect opportunities for EdgeConneX customers.

Following the launch of its Marseille Hub in 2017, Orange International Carriers continues to enhance its network connectivity and will now offer a direct connection between Marseille and Penmarch. This new terrestrial cable allows Orange to open up unique access between Asia, the Middle-East and West Africa, offering improved service, redundancy and security.

Telecom Egypt announced on May 10, 2018 that its Board of Directors approved two strategic decisions to increase its return on investment, and provide the liquidity to facilitate the implementation of its business plan.

RETN recently announced the completion of an upgrade of its TRANSKZ Europe-Asia terrestrial route running through Kazakhstan. Due to the recent upgrade to 100G, RETN became the only European provider to deliver a fully owned high-speed terrestrial connectivity solution between key markets in Europe and Asia (Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul). 

EllaLink announced on Monday receipt of an Intent to Award for a €25 million contract with GÉANT and RedCLARA on behalf of the BELLA Consortium. This award is for a Capacity Purchase on the EllaLink submarine cable, a new state-of-the-art transatlantic system. The EllaLink cable system, providing 72 terabits of telecoms capacity between Spain, Portugal and Brazil, will be ready for service in 2020.

Angola Cables announced at ITW 2018 that it can now offer its customers customized amounts of capacity on the MONET subsea cable system with Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme Spectrum Sharing capability. Angola Cables can reliably and securely offer highly differentiated virtual fiber pairs, which are dedicated and upgradeable portions of overall optical spectrum, to end-users over a shared physical fiber pair.

Seaborn Networks announced on Saturday the appointment of David Zimmer as Seaborn's Chief Sales Officer. As Seaborn's new CSO, Dave will be responsible for all of Seaborn's direct sales, channel strategies and inside sales. Dave is also being added to Seaborn's board of directors.