Cumulative Installations of Submarine Optical Fiber Cables Globally are Projected to Reach 2 Million Kilometers by 2020

Rise in Fiber Connectivity in Emerging Markets Drives Growth in the Submarine Optical Fiber Cables Market, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Submarine Optical Fiber Cables. Cumulative installations of Submarine Optical Fiber Cables globally are projected to reach 2 million kilometers by 2020, driven by the growing demand for fiber broadband and the ensuing deployment of fiber-optic cables in the Internet backbone.

Submarine optical fiber cables are undersea cables used for carrying data across interconnected networks between continents. All of the modern cables make use of optical fiber technology for carrying digital data. The growing data transmission workloads placed by high-performance computers, servers and network storage systems is helping spur growth in the market. The world’s increasing dependence on uninterrupted data connectivity and the subsequent increase in demand for greater bandwidth is enhancing the need for fiber optic interconnectivity to support this rise in data traffic. Presently, most of the transoceanic Internet traffic is transmitted through submarine cables, given the high level of efficiency achieved in transmission through submarine cables, as against using satellites. At present, submarine optical cables transmit 100% of the international Internet traffic, and more than 95% of the world’s combined data and voice traffic.

Significant advances in optical transmission technology are driving demand for data and video transmission, thereby necessitating the deployment of additional submarine cables. Most of the new projects are aimed primarily at addressing the needs of emerging and underserved markets. The Greenfield SAPL cable between linking Hawaii and South America, as well as the Arctic Fibre projects are few examples of submarine cable projects targeting underserved regions. On the other hand, upgrade projects on several existing cable routes are also being taken up to keep pace with the escalating demand for bandwidth. Between 2008 and 2014, about US$12 billion was invested in new projects with most of the funds spent on increasing coverage, expanding networks and improving quality of services. Also, about 160 new projects with a combined value of more than US$20 billion are in proposal or construction phase for the year 2015 and beyond. Growth in the coming years will also be driven by the development and ongoing transition towards cost-effective 100G transmission technology, from the earlier 10G transmission technology.

As stated by the new market research report on Submarine Optical Fiber Cables, developed markets across Europe and the United States are witnessing slower growth owing to market saturation and uncertain economic conditions. Growth opportunities in these markets will come primarily from upgrade or capacity enhancement projects. Future growth in the global market will be driven by increased broadband investments in developing markets across South Asia and Africa. With a CAGR of 4.5% over the analysis period, Africa represents the fastest growing submarine cable route. Growth in this route is led by the escalating demand for reliable connectivity and affordable broadband services.

Major players covered in the report include Alcatel-Lucent, Bezeq International Ltd., Cable & Wireless Communications Plc, Ciena Corporation, Emerald Networks Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Huawei Marine Networks Co. Limited, Infinera Corporation, Kokusai Cable Ship Co. Ltd., NSW, NTT Communications Corporation, Global Cloud Xchange Limited, Pacnet Limited, Tata Communications Limited, TE SubCom, and Xtera Communications Inc., among others.

The research report titled “Submarine Optical Fiber Cables: A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, drivers, mergers, acquisitions and other strategic industry activities. The report provides market estimates and projections in Thousand Kilometers (Cumulative Installations) for major geographic markets such as Africa, Transatlantic, Europe & Mediterranean, Transpacific, South East Asia and Others.