Many of you will be aware of the concept of so-called “SMART” – Science Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications cables. The idea is simple – to incorporate temperature, pressure and acceleration sensors into repeaters for the purposes of detecting earthquakes and tsunamis, studying climate and improving our knowledge of the Earth’s interior. However, the implementation has not been simple; despite a decade of study, no SMART cables have yet been developed or deployed. Naturally, the endeavor has chicken and egg syndrome: without a proven, working example, no one will undertake the effort to develop one. Anything that will slow the installation, increase the cost, or (possibly) reduce the reliability of a submarine cable system is anathema to developers and owners.
Last week, Ocean Specialists (OSI), was well represented at ITW2019 with the attendance of Tom Soja (VP) and Tony Mosley (Director of Business Development), who formed part of the more than 7000 attendees of this key annual telecom conference. Running from the 22nd to the 25th of June, this was the first year that the conference was held in Atlanta, GA.
