SEA-ME-WE 6 undersea cable system plans launch in 2025

The Southeast Asia-Middle East- Western Europe 6 consortium (SEA-ME-WE 6) selected Subcom for the supply and installation of a new 19,200 km undersea cable system connecting South East Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe at 12 locations from Singapore to France. The system is expected to be ready for service by the first quarter of 2025.

SubCom will utilize SL17-SDM cable, supporting up to 24 fiber pairs (FP). Production of the cable and equipment will take place at SubCom’s manufacturing campus in Newington, NH, USA.

The system consists of three segments: an undersea segment from Tuas (Singapore) to Ras Ghareb (Egypt), a terrestrial segment from Ras Ghareb (Egypt) to Port Said (Egypt), and another undersea segment from Port Said (Egypt) to Marseilles (France). The fiber pair capacities for each network segment have been individually designed, together with the segment fiber pair counts, resulting in multi-Terabits end-to-end capacity whilst optimizing the overall system price.

SEA-ME-WE 6 will use Subcom's 18kV power source technology and is designed to maintain operations with single-end feed power in the event there is a far-end fault. Single-end power source capability is critical for the reliability and overall resilience of a system, particularly of extended length. SubCom’s system powering expertise and continued investment in research and development enables the company to support complex deployments requiring additional cable lengths.

To reliably support as much as 24FP on a trunk or branch port, SubCom will utilize its Enhanced Branching Unit (eBU), which provides flexible electrical power and optical fiber routing with shore-based telemetry control. The eBU latching power switching provides advanced internal management features for unit and user protection that include repair states, configurable restricted states, and a configurable power-down state that is selected for optimum system re- activation.

“SubCom is honored to drive the design, manufacture, and deployment of SEA-ME-WE 6, a system that will reach more than 11 countries and benefit hundreds of communities beyond,” said David Coughlan, CEO of SubCom. “We maintain the industry’s most advanced technology portfolio and marine installation capabilities, all of which will contribute to a successful project on behalf of the SEA-ME-WE 6 Consortium.

“With this new cable system, our partners will be able to meet and exceed capacity demands across multiple regions,” said Mr. Yue Meng Fai, Chairperson of the SEA-ME-WE 6 Management Committee and Senior Director, Consortium Cable Engineering, Singtel. “This new, reliable and resilient system encompasses some of the most advanced transmission technologies in the world and will improve access to services for everyone along this route.”

https://www.subcom.com/documents/2022/SEA-ME-WE_6_SubCom_CIF_21FEB2022.pdf

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KDDI activates 5G Standalone Open RAN site powered by vRAN

KDDI activated the world's first commercial 5G Standalone Open Radio Access Network site powered by virtualized Radio Access Network in Kawasaki, Kanagawa and is now carrying live 5G traffic.

KDDI is using Samsung's 5G virtualized CU (vCU) and virtualized DU (vDU) as well as Fujitsu's Massive MIMO radio units,

Beginning with this site, in 2022, KDDI, along with Samsung and Fujitsu, will deploy this Open RAN in some parts of Japan and continue its deployment and development, embracing openness and virtualization in KDDI's commercial network.

While traditional RAN uses hardware-based equipment, this Open RAN site leverages fully-virtualized RAN software, provided by Samsung, that runs on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers. Furthermore, by pursuing an open network approach between radio units and baseband unit, KDDI used Samsung's baseband and Fujitsu's Massive MIMO Units, which are connected with an open interface.

The virtualized network allows the use of general-purpose hardware (COTS servers) across the country, which will greatly increase deployment efficiencies. Additionally, by leveraging system automation, fully-virtualized RAN software can reduce deployment time, enabling swift nationwide expansion, including rural areas.

"Together with Samsung and Fujitsu, we are excited to successfully develop and turn on the world's first commercial 5G SA Open RAN site powered by vRAN. Taking a big step, we look forward to continue leading network innovation and advancing our network capabilities, towards our vision of delivering cutting-edge 5G services to our customers," stated Kazuyuki Yoshimura, Chief Technology Officer, KDDI Corporation.

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TPG Telecom and Telstra reach network sharing deal in Australia

Telstra and TPG Telecom announced a ten-year regional network sharing agreement covering Telstra's Radio Access Network in defined territory.

The deal provides TPG Telecom with access to around 3,700 of Telstra’s mobile network assets, increasing TPG Telecom’s current 4G coverage from around 96 per cent to 98.8 per cent of the population.

Both carriers will continue to operate their own core network. Telstra will also obtain access to and deploy infrastructure on up to 169 TPG Telecom existing mobile sites, improving coverage for TPG and Telstra customers in the zone. TPG Telecom will decommission the 725 mobile sites it currently operates within the agreed area, reducing environmental impact, energy consumption, operating costs and future capex. The non-exclusive agreement includes the option for TPG Telecom to request two contract extensions of five years each.

TPG Telecom CEO Iñaki Berroeta said the landmark network sharing agreement would significantly expand TPG Telecom’s mobile network footprint in regional Australia and enable growth of its customer base in regional and metropolitan areas.

“It represents a material uplift in the capability of our network and will provide significant value for TPG Telecom shareholders over the medium and long term.

“We will be open for business in regional and rural Australia like never before, offering a 4G network that provides 98.8% population coverage and rapidly growing 5G coverage across the nation."

TPG Telecom notes that it will continue to operate its own 3G, 4G and 5G networks in metropolitan areas reaching around 80 per cent of the population, which includes its network infrastructure sharing arrangement with Optus in those areas.

https://www.tpgtelecom.com.au

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T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom launch T-IoT enterprise service

T-Mobile US and Deutsche Telekom introduced T-IoT, a comprehensive enterprise solution for global IoT connectivity, platform management and support. The service will be available across 188 destinations, on 383 networks worldwide.

Key features:

• Worldwide network connectivity spanning NB-IoT, LTE-M, LTE, and 5G.
• A single pane of glass to easily view, and eventually manage global IoT connections across several platforms, including T-Mobile Control Center and Deutsche Telekom M2M Service Portal, with T-IoT Hub.
• A simplified procurement process that includes streamlined contract and billing, consistent global service level agreements, and customer support.
• Flexible pricing with a pay-per-data model OR a choice of three flat-rate unlimited connectivity packages (T-IoT Unlimited Base, T-IoT Unlimited Premium, and T-IoT Unlimited Pro) across the U.S. and Europe, as well as value added services to serve connectivity needs for the lifetime of the device.

"One provider. One solution. That's 'making it simple' taken at its word," says Hagen Rickmann, Managing Director Business Customers, Telekom Deutschland. "Many industries, such as healthcare or automotive, depend on international supply chains. And their customers today rely on receiving service and assistance anywhere in the world. We're able to do that with this transatlantic collaboration, with our networks, for the best customer experience worldwide."

“With millions of connected Mercedes-Benz vehicles in nearly every corner of the world today, and up to 20 million connected cars in our fleet by 2025, we need be able to rely on telecommunications partners like T-IoT, that offer us global network coverage and an ecosystem for IoT leadership,” said Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management, Mercedes-Benz Group AG. “Real-time, high-bandwidth data transmission is key to digital innovation. 5G technology in IoT scenarios will allow our vehicles to communicate with the speed and reliability needed to offer our customers greater efficiency through improved routing and improved safety.”

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SpaceX completes 38th Starlink mission

On February 21, SpaceX launched 46 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch was southbound.

 

This was the 38th Starlink launch mission and the 11th flight for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter-1, Transporter-3, and now six Starlink missions.

The Falcon 9 was recovered on a drone ship.

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ADVA FSP 3000 carries 400G over 10,000 km for FUNET and SUNET

CSC – IT Center for Science, which operates the Finnish University and Research Network (FUNET) and the Swedish University Computer Network (SUNET), transmitted data at 400 Gbit/s over more than 10,000km using the ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex CoreChannel.

The industry-first long-distance demo was conducted over a live flexgrid network, including both ROADMs and RAMAN amplifiers. Covering FUNET in Finland and Sweden’s SUNET network, the trial crossed international borders and achieved a reach of more than 10,000km. The trial solution used two 200Gbit/s streams to achieve 400Gbit/s data transport in a 200GHz window while delivering the highest levels of performance. It was built on ADVA FSP 3000 optical transport technology, which provides a truly open line system fully ready for open spectrum services. Other recent field trials conducted by FUNET using ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex technology include an industry-first demo of 800Gbit/s over a 2280km network and a successful trial of two 200Gbit/s streams in the 150GHz band able to transmit 400GbE services over more than 7,000km.

“Our multi-domain field trial with the ADVA FSP 3000 TeraFlex CoreChannel terminal evaluated flexibility and the terminal’s capabilities to adapt to use cases where ultra-long-haul 400GbE services are needed. The results that were achieved – trans-oceanic reach over terrestrial systems – were far beyond our expectations and typical real-life service requirements,” said Jani Myyry, senior network specialist at FUNET. “Nordic research and education networks are shifting towards a federated next-generation model where optical spectrum resources are shared within the region. We have already built multiple programmable cross-border interconnection links between the FUNET and SUNET ADVA open line systems to exchange spectrum transparently. The trial utilized these interconnection links and the FUNET and SUNET network footprint to create the extremely transparent optical routes used during the tests.”

http:/www.adva.com

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Thailand's Nipa Cloud upgrades with Juniper

Nipa Cloud, a leading cloud services provider in Thailand, has selected Juniper Networks' EVPN-VXLAN solutions from Juniper Networks, including the QFX5120 Series Switches and MX10003/MX204 Series Universal Routing Platforms, to upgrade its campus and data center networks and better differentiate its offerings.

These upgrades allow Nipa to now deploy a common set of policies and services across campuses with support for Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPNs. In addition, Nipa is now able to better deliver enhanced throughput, scalability, capacity, performance and security – enabling Nipa to continue development of its ground-up cloud solutions, uniquely built for Thailand’s fast- developing enterprises and its rapidly transforming digital ecosystem.

“Thailand is amid a massive digital transformation, with consumers and enterprises alike accelerating their transition to the cloud. As our nation drives toward Thailand 4.0, it is key that infrastructure providers like Nipa Cloud adapt and transform to stay ahead of the pack. Through our partnership with Juniper Networks, we can introduce new infrastructure-as-a-service capabilities with multiple locations and lower cost of cloud. This will offer our customers and partners access to agile, cost-effective and secure services that will help drive sustainable growth in Thailand’s digital economy," states Dr. Abhisak Chulya, Founder and CEO, Nipa Cloud.

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