Promote Island As Atlantic Hub For Fibreoptic
A Bermuda delegation attending a high-profile conference for the global submarine cable industry this week will “promote the island as a strategic Atlantic landing hub for fibreoptic corridors,” the Bermuda Business Development Agency said.
“SubOptic, a triennial event being held April 8–11 in New Orleans, LA, is the longest running and most comprehensive conference series in the world for the submarine cable industry. The four-day summit attracts 800-plus attendees and features presentations by the global industry’s leading experts, including tech giants like Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon,” a spokesperson said.
“The delegation will be promoting Bermuda as an Atlantic hub for the interconnection of fibreoptic cables that are currently being built by some of the world’s largest tech companies,” said Premier David Burt.
“This government promised to diversify Bermuda’s economy, and this initiative, which the Cabinet has endorsed and is progressing through legislation, has the potential to create economic growth and jobs in Bermuda, as well as advance the island’s technology needs for the future.”
“This event is like an Olympics for the submarine cable industry,” said BDA Director Fiona Beck, a two-term past president of SubOptic who will deliver a presentation at the event on Bermuda’s advantages. “It could be a win-win for both Bermuda and this industry.”
The BDA added, “Also attending SubOptic 2019 will be BDA Business Development Manager Kevin Richards and Jeane Nikolai, Director of Telecommunications and Energy for the Bermuda government, which is working in partnership with the BDA to progress a national subsea corridor initiative.
“Legislation to create a dedicated fibreoptic corridor will be tabled in Bermuda’s Legislature in the next few months with the aim of attracting new cable business and boosting connectivity.
“The effort builds on research overseen by Beck and carried out at the BDA last summer by Notre Dame University’s Thomas Tran and Berkeley Institute graduate Tyrese Coakley whose report indicated an undersea corridor in Bermuda waters could help the island become a hub for trans-Atlantic fibreoptic links. Kansas native Tran will attend SubOptic 2019 to present his follow-up white paper on the Bermuda project after it was accepted for peer review.
“More than 97 percent of the world’s information passes through cables, making them indispensable for connected societies and business centres.
“Bermuda’s location creates a logical stopover for cables connecting the Americas to Western Europe. While the island already hosts three cables, a dedicated corridor would attract more and demonstrate best practice. Branching units from planned cable systems could also create significant infrastructure to satisfy Europe’s new economic substance requirements, supporting IP assets,” Beck said, and offer additional advantages to companies seeking network diversity and data privacy.
“Importantly, infrastructure via submarine cables could encourage head-office incorporations, making Bermuda a domicile of choice,” she added, “along with spinoff opportunities such as cloud computing, data storage and nearshore personal resourcing.” A few subsea telecoms companies, including Southern Cross Cable Network and Australia-Japan Cable, currently have head offices in Bermuda.
“It’s a timely opportunity that could help position Bermuda as a point of major strategic benefit to these submarine projects,” noted Beck. “It could also prove advantageous in the drive to diversify the island’s economy and support international business and fintech.”
“To find out more about Bermuda and the benefits of the subsea cable corridor initiative, contact kevin@bda.bm or visit the Bermuda delegation at Booth 107 at SubOptic 2019.“
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Why stop in Bermuda and pay another fee when there are plenty of cables which run directly from USA to Europe and Caribbean to Europe?
Oh shut up troll! It’s an OPPORTUNITY for Bermuda to explore so why are you trying to kill it? We need less people like you on our Island!
Exactly!
“Oh shut up troll”
Typical cry of the ignorant.
Look up “global crossing”…you moron.
The PLP PREVENTED Bermuda from becoming a hub over a decade ago…..only the crazy would repeat their own failed history.
Do you understand how it works? Shorter distance means faster speeds. If they come to Bermuda it’s a shorter distance which results in faster speeds
Umm, no. That is not how fibre optic cables work at all. But we are near a junction of the main north-south cable and one of the main east-west cables and that may give us some advantage.
Um yes it does work like that i’m Studying fiber ops now as we speak! Less distance lower latency and since the light is traveling at a lesser distance the speed increases but hey what do I know I’m in IT.
” what do I know I’m in IT.”
That’s the only correct thing you’ve said. I’m an actual engineer, I have to school “IT people” every day,,,,stick with supporting outlook and excel and leave the technology to people who understand it.
It doesn’t matter to him/her how it works, it is happening under the PLP so (s)he has to gripe about it.
So so true…
Shorter distance just means lower latency. Also, how is the distance shorter? They’re still making the trip to Europe. If anything cross connecting in Bermuda will make it longer since it won’t be a straight run anymore. Also, you now have more hops in the network which means more failure points and latency.
You are correct about more hops being applied however to my understanding from sources inside it was implied that Bermuda will try to have their own line. Not to to sure how true it is but this is what I heard which is the info I’m going by. In that case yes you will have faster speeds and Bermuda can sell it as IAAS to other places. Again if the info is true and it was NOT a PLP rep who mentioned it. It was ppl in the field who had wind of this development before us in the public. Also I might be mistaken but the article did mention a dedicated corridor for Bermuda. But love the tech talk with someone who knows their stuff
” But love the tech talk with someone who knows their stuff”
LOL, you’re easily fooled
“Do you understand how it works? Shorter distance means faster speeds. If they come to Bermuda it’s a shorter distance which results in faster speeds”
OMG, please…you don’t have a clue and I’m embarrassed for you
How about cheaper internet
That’s what this will do…
Didn’t we already try this once about 10 years ago?
Key phrase, “10 years ago” when fiber optics was NOT very affordable and accessible like it is today. Nice try paid OBA troll. I bet you you are part of the ones who think cryptocurrency represents the entire industry of Fintech…ignorance is bliss for some folk
Ok, here we go again. I am not a troll, just an average Bermudian.
I have never been a member of any political party in Bermuda.
It would appear from your comment that I am not welcome in the PLP.
As for the substance of your post, you clearly know nothing about the history of fibre optic cables. Bermuda (and the world) had a boom in fibre optic cable companies in the 1990s. Companies like FLAG. They went bust before the crash of 2008. They went bust because they WERE accessible. The price of fibre optic cable accessibility fell through the floor because of data compression technology and other factors.
That was nearly 20 years ago.
As you said, the key phrase in my original post was “about 10 years ago”.
No I understand it clearly the problem is you are not understanding what I’m saying. Fiber optic cables can produce high GB speeds that we couldn’t get access to before. Now we can and its CHEAPER THAN IT WAS 10 YEARS AGO. So for the ppl who always complain about slow ISP service this can change if this initiative goes through. Instead of trying to give some drawn out history lesson why dont you actually try and understand what is being said. And by the way you are a notorious troll for the OBA judged on your past in blogging and no you are not welcomed with your trolling over here…
“And by the way you are a notorious troll for the OBA judged on your past in blogging and no you are not welcomed with your trolling over here…”
There we have it. No proof required. Just an accusation is enough to brand me an OBA troll or, I suppose, a Trump supporter!
Or is that only if the accusation comes from certain people?
““10 years ago” when fiber optics was NOT very affordable and accessible ”
OMG, the ignorance is astounding