Market Overview of the Submarine Telecommunications Industry

Market Overview

We’ve started the New Year by looking forward to 2022’s market predictions. The submarine telecommunications industry has proven itself to be resilient in the face of two solid years of recent global health regulations and travel restrictions, and the industry continues its mission to connect the world.

Over the next three years, 71 new submarine cable systems have been announced. 2020 saw 19 systems implemented, and 2021 saw only 14. Although this is a low figure by today’s standards, it’s still higher than the number of implemented systems before 2019. And a massive 37 systems are predicted to be implemented this year, which underlines how significant 2022 is going to be. The market has held on in challenging times, and the industry is in good health.

Going Green

Last year saw the launch of the Sustainable Subsea Networks research project – one of the first projects of the SubOptic Foundation. The association was launched on the 18th of January 2021 to provide education and training programs to benefit present and future individuals in the subsea cable industry and the broader community.

The Sustainable Subsea Networks research project attempts to better the industry and the world simultaneously. It investigates energy supply and recycling opportunities in cable systems to enhance environmental sustainability.

Although many companies have paid interest in sustainability over the past decade, relatively little attention has gone to the role of subsea cables. This is partly due to them not being problematic compared to more significant environmental threats, but that doesn’t mean that the effects of subsea cables shouldn’t be documented and reduced. Sustainability is huge for NBG, and we’re delighted with the progress of the SubOptic Foundation.

A sustainable future must start today!

5 Industry Trends for 2022

  • Security is becoming more and more critical all the time. Under growing numbers of network attacks, more service providers and operators are required to protect their data, including DDoS protection and firewalls.
  • Companies will depend on performance data software more than ever, and intelligent networks operated by highly-skilled software engineers are becoming more critical for companies in the submarine telecommunications industry.
  • The world is only becoming more connected. More than 10,000,000,000 devices are currently connected. The higher this number rises, the more important the telecom industry becomes in big business and politics.
  • Big tech companies will channel a great deal of investment into subsea network infrastructure, particularly in developing markets. Digital infrastructure is growing at a tremendous rate, and the emergence of tech companies like Meta promises to continue the trend.
  • The demand for a high fiber count will rocket. Increased demand for high fiber is excellent news for us because our new cladding line for the production of 50 km FIMT cables is all about producing long cables with as many as 192 fibers, which is ideal for the submarine telecommunications industry.

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