Corporate Blog

Upgrade announcements in 2015 have been coming in at the same pace as last year. There were two new upgrades announced in November, bringing the total to 19 announcements for the year to date – the exact same number that there were for the same period in 2014.

OSI looks forward to participating at PTC again this year, an industry event we have attended every year since its inception. We believe this year’s theme, ‘Reimagining Telecoms’ is part of our corporate culture—we work with telecom and energy companies every day who plan and build submarine fiber optic cables, ‘reimagining’ the benefits of broadband and the impacts worldwide.

Broadband Internet is failing to reach those who could benefit most, with Internet access reaching near-saturation in the world’s rich nations but not advancing fast enough to benefit the billions of people living in the developing world, according to the 2015 edition of the State of Broadband report. Released on September 21, the report reveals that 57% of the world’s people remain offline and unable to take advantage of the enormous economic and social benefits the Internet can offer.

The Arctic and Antarctic are the two areas not yet served by fiber optic subsea cables. Laying subsea cables in Artic waters brings a new set of challenges beyond those faced in the open ocean. OSI’s Steve Lentz, Director Network Architecture and New Technologies, writes on the mitigation strategies and technical solutions that exist for many of the challenges presented by an Arctic environment.

OSI has recently completed network development projects in Thailand, Tonga, Fiji, and has going engagements on a Transpacific system, an African regional system (Comoros) and two offshore oil and gas networks. The level of activity in the region provides anecdotal evidence of the strength of regional oil and gas and telecom industries and their commitments to submarine fiber optic connectivity.

Ocean Specialists’ subsidiary Radius Oceanic Communications built and now operates the Poseidon subsea network in the Eastern Mediterranean. Radius expects Oil and Gas operators to have significant demand for fiber optic network services following regional announcements of offshore super finds in Cyprus, Israel and most recently Egypt.