Submarine Cable 101

1. Submarine Cable 101 • Stephen Baxter, CTO and Co-Founder PIPE Networks Limited

2. About PIPE Networks ASX Listed company (ASX:PWK) Profitable Company on all measure of EBIT, EBITDA, cash flow etc Internet Peering point operator in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide. Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra 3rd largest operator of metro fibre services in Australia Co-location provider Currently undertaking PPC – Sydney to Guam Submarine Cable

3. Why should we care • about Submarine cables High Capacity Lifeline New cables built for data (built for us) You are the customers – not the monopolists victim Informed choice for valuable section of supply chain

4. What do you see as a • customer of a Submarine Network • Older cables – E1, DS-3, STM-1, STM-4, STM-16 • Newer cables – Optically muxed Gig-E, 2.5G Wavelength, 10G Wavelength • Typical choices for dry side cards are : • STM-64: XFP transceiver • 4xSTM-16 • 8x1GbE • 10 GbE WAN PHY (9.95328Gb/s) • 10 GbE LAN PHY (10.3125Gb/s)

5. Before it all starts The route Factors effecting the route Market, topography, commercial activity, seismic activity, man made obstacles Permits Territorial Limits, Continental Shelves, Exclusive Economic Zones, disputed waters Manufacture Fully built before being laid, pressure tested. Room on the ship – how much cable can you carry

6. The Cable Reasonably boring long haul fibre optic Secret sauce is the outer layer and the route Rock Armoured, Double Armoured, Single armoured, Light weight armour, special application and lightweight Type dependant on bottom conditions, artificial risks and depth

7. Cable Station Interface between wet and dry plant You need two of them Do not have to be huge – adequate is good Beware somebody else’s cable station

8. Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment • Driving the cable

9. CWDM Spectrum for 2.5G DWDM Spectrum for 10G services Power 1 x 2.5G 16 x 10G Frequency Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment 10 Gig system using DWDM – multiple 10G wavelength on a single pair • Driving the cable

10. Driving the cable Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment Voltage – Power Feed Equipment (PFE) - DC and lots of it 10,000V DC not uncommon Dual fed CLS has power backup

11. Driving the cable Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment Voltage – Power Feed Equipment (PFE) - DC and lots of it Splitters – Optically passive equipment that splits all or a portion of spectrum onto different physical paths – also called Branching Unit (BU).

12. Branching Unit

13. Driving the cable Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment Voltage – Power Feed Equipment (PFE) - DC and lots of it Splitters – Optically passive equipment that splits all or a portion of spectrum onto different physical paths – also called Branching Unit (BU). Amplifiers/Repeaters – every 80km, dependant on OSNR and BU placement

14. Fibre • Amplifier/ • Repeater

15. Driving the cable Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment Voltage – Power Feed Equipment (PFE) - DC and lots of it Splitters – Optically passive equipment that splits all or a portion of spectrum onto different physical paths – also called Branching Unit (BU). Amplifiers/Repeaters – every 80km, dependant on OSNR and BU placement Monitoring – in line OTDR working through EDFA

16. Getting wet Beach manhole transition into the surf, very well earthed Conduit bored 900m out from mean low water mark 30m deep on land, 15m mean depth enroute to 900m Diver assisted with rotary wing support

17. Giving Way Cable routes close to shore are usually a crowded space

18. Giving Way Cable routes close to shore are usually a crowded space You need to build bridges Recovery order to ensure no damage to underlying system

19. Keep under cover Deeper is better 2000m or shallower – cable is buried Depth between 1 and 8 metres Going the long way – considerations include Geologic, Seismic, Topographical and many others

20. Cable burial • Keep under cover

21. Know where you lie Positioning and Survey You may need to recover for repair or re-use GPS accuracy between 2 and 5m Don’t be left suspended Up to 20km of cable can be suspended during deployment operations

22. Sub Sea Burial Suspended fibre cable Mean sea level Ocean Ocean laid Terrestrial Trench/Valley Don’t be left suspended • Know where you lie

23. Predators of the deep Sharks – mostly urban myth but the shark has always been a good scapegoat Squids – not caches

24. Predators of the shallows Legitimate commercial activity Fishing, mining, shipping, military Not so legitimate commercial activity Local entrepreneurs – protection racquets – in some parts of the world quite legal or at least tolerated Submarine Protection zones

25. Predators of the shallows Legitimate commercial activity Fishing, mining, shipping, military Not so legitimate commercial activity Local entrepreneurs – protection racquets – in some parts of the world quite legal or at least tolerated Submarine Protection zones Lawyers and International taxation specialists !

26. Maintenance and repair Cable ship agreements - clubs Cable faults usually singular affairs, not always breaks Grapple the cable, double the ships does not halve the time If too deep – cable needs to re-laid as recovery impossible Overall – far higher MTBF than terrestrial cables

27. Conclusion More of us will purchase submarine capacity Become an empowered consumer of these services

28. Thanks – Steve Baxter steve@pipenetworks.com