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Technology Stocks : SDL, Inc. [Nasdaq: SDLI] -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scrapps who wrote (37)	12/7/1998 10:23:00 AM
From: pat mudge	Respond to of 3951

I pulled this off the JDS Fitel board since SDLI also serves the submarine market: <<< Transpacific Submarine Fiber Optic Cable Market Sees Flurry of New Construction According to Pioneer Consulting New Transpacific Investment Will Total $4.4 Billion CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The opportunities for submarine fiber optic system developers in the transpacific market are at an all-time high, according to Pioneer Consulting in the latest issue of The Pioneer Report on International Telecom Networks. Fueled by the growth in international data services, Internet backbone expansions and multinational private networks, the demand for transpacific capacity is increasing at rates exceeding 100% per year. Existing transpacific cables are unable to meet this demand, even with WDM upgrades of capacity. Capacity on the most recent transpacific cable, TPC-5, was sold out in 1997. Consequently, more systems will be put into the transpacific region in the next two years than into any other region in the world. "This new construction is being driven not only by unmet Internet demand, but also by carriers' desire to gain entry into historically under-served markets such as China," said Michael Ruddy, Senior Fiber Optic Analyst at Pioneer Consulting. Investment in new transpacific systems in each of the next two years will be almost as much as the total investment in transpacific systems over the last ten years combined. In 1999 and 2000, investment in new transpacific systems will be $2.2 billion each year, for a total new investment of $4.4 billion. (By comparison, cumulative investment for the ten years from 1988 to 1998 was only $2.685 billion.) NEW TRANSPACIFIC SYSTEMS Cable System Initial RFS Date Cost Southern Cross Cable Network December 1999 $1.1 Billion China-US Cable Network December 1999 $1.1 Billion Pacific Crossing-1 February 2000 $1.2 Billion Japan-US Cable Network May 2000 $1.0 Billion Total: $4.4 Billion There are presently four fiber optic systems providing transpacific connectivity. However, there have been no new cables put into service since 1996. This capacity drought has coincided with exploding demand driven not only by Internet traffic but by corporate data traffic as well. Submarine cable operators are scurrying to construct new systems to meet demand. Consequently, there will be four distinct transpacific ring systems entering service in the six months from December, 1999 to May, 2000. The cost of capacity on transpacific cable systems has fallen dramatically because of the competition between these new systems. The price of a transpacific STM-1 has fallen to below $3 million for multiple purchases of shore-to-shore circuits. The price of a transpacific STM-1 will have fallen an average of 50 percent annually from 1996 to 2000. PIONEER CONSULTING Pioneer Consulting is a consultancy based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in global high-speed telecommunications networks and technologies. Recent single-client projects have included research and analysis on submarine fiber optic systems, international telecommunications, growth of the Internet, high-speed Internet access methods, and other topics in fiber optics. For additional information visit Pioneer's World Wide Web site at pioneerconsulting.com. SOURCE Pioneer Consulting Web Site: pioneerconsulting.com >>>