It is with our warmest aloha that we say goodbye to PTC19. With over 7900 attendees from more than 75 nations, the conference proved to be, once more, a hub for telecommunication industry networking, not only in the Asia Pacific region but worldwide. In addition to the ever-growing presence of the the large content provider projects, independently-owned regional systems continue to be announced. This year was also marked by significant acquisition activity in the system supplier sector, with major suppliers in play.
IPG Photonic’s acquisition of Brazil Based Padtec is another example of the growing interest for investment in the telecommunication industry. This vertical integration move is bringing a whole new dimension to the industry. Per their website, “IPG Photonics is the leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance fiber lasers and amplifiers,” which falls right in line with the core technology used for fiber-optic cables. It will be interesting to see how IPG intends to grow Padtec’s market presence worldwide.
Tony Mosley, OSI’s Director of Business Development, chaired the very successful Global Submarine Cable Review panel on the opening day of the conference, where the panel members covered the myriad of cable developments in the five major global cable routes: North Atlantic, LATAM, Africa/Indian Ocean, Europe/Middle East, and Pacific. The panel concluded with an update on Global Regulations and their broad reach on subsea cable installation from national security concerns, to deep seabed mining and environmental regulations in the high seas.
In closing, OSI would like to thank PTC’s President Sharon Nakama and her very capable team for another well-organized event. We look forward to being a part of this world-renowned telecommunication conference again in 2020.
