Alcatel-Lucent and TE SubCom announced a significant expansion to their joint maintenance program for submarine optical communication links throughout the pacific basin.
The “Pacific End-to-End Maintenance Solution” boosts the companies’ ability to maintain and repair undersea cables in the northern Pacific region, to support current telecommunications clients and other potential customers seeking marine services.
Submarine cable networks connect countries and continents, carrying vast amounts of data traffic including video. They are developed for high reliability over their 25-year design life. However, cables can be damaged by external forces such as earthquakes, hurricanes, intense fishing activity and ship anchors. Marine maintenance services repair damaged cable and help restore normal operation as quickly as possible, limiting disruption to global communications and commerce.
Alcatel-Lucent and TE SubCom first joined forces in the Pacific in 2008 with two cable ships serving the northwestern portion of the region. The deployment of additional cable ships in the course of this year as a maintenance resource in the northeastern region provides complete coverage for the entire northern Pacific.
The companies’ cable ships operating in the Pacific are all fully equipped and strategically located to efficiently and effectively repair and maintain cable systems and provide customers with a single, streamlined marine solution for Pacific operations.