March 25, 2020
Welcome to Issue 111, our Finance & Legal edition.

If ever there was a need for connectivity, it is today…

From my vantage along the Potomac River the news has been coming like a slow moving, yet unstoppable train. Contingency plans have been prepared and revised. Supplies have been purchased and stored, ready for use if absolutely necessary.

We have already experienced a single wave of chest colds through the office, which is typical this time of year, and have decided, if it comes to it, that we can all work remotely. Half of our people are located somewhere else anyway; so, we can simply Skype or Webex or whatever each other for various project or marketing or planning meetings, and bank the travel budget for now.

I was on a video telecon the other day with two international locations and was struck how the general consensus was that no one was traveling for now. I am still in awe of our ability to hold such a teleconference, which only a few years ago was unheard of. Even my ability to What’s App my buddy, Nick, in England to talk through the recent Wales match is still mind boggling.

It is very much a wait and see kind of a time.

We watch with great interest how the many industry conferences are adapting to the changing circumstances. Many are simply “postponing” their events to a better time. And so, our list of “must-attends” is slowly being crossed out from the list – top down, month-by-month.

Maybe this is the time to perfect virtual conferences.

But on the flipside, I read an article recently saying if everyone stayed home, we would “break” the internet. Wow, really? I know I play too much Team Fortress as it is, but I doubt my supposed increase will shatter anything.

Yet as an industry we are still incredibly busy, adapting to new, challenging rules for fielding personnel and assets, but still getting the job done.

 

Q&A with Bermuda

This issue we are talking trends with Bermuda’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, and gaining an understanding of the island’s new legal framework and future plans for submarine cables. Bermuda is looking to establish itself as a landing hub for transatlantic submarine cables; so, this is certainly a very interesting read.

SubTelForum.com

We’ve added a new department to the magazine, namely SubTelForum.com, which describes in a nutshell and links free resources for all our readers, as well as subscription-based market sector reporting for those interested in drilling down further on various subjects. It will be updated from time-to-time as new informational opportunities for our readers arise.

Porthcurno 150th Anniversary

SubTel Forum is publishing the third article of a series leading up to the main 150th anniversary of the first Transatlantic telegraph cable, which will be celebrated for the month of June 2020 at the Telegraph Museum Porthcurno in Cornwall, England. Bill Burns and Stewart Ash have written a piece entitled, “The Red Sea Line: The 1870 Cable from England to India,” as well as highlighted the month-long schedule for the Porthcurno event.

Back Reflection

Our ever popular historical department, Back Reflection, returns and in this issue, José Chesnoy discusses the art over the many industry years of submarine cable positioning and how cable laying became over time extremely precise.

As always, we have some really excellent articles this issue from a number of exceptional international authors. Finance & Legal is meant to be a laser-focused theme, highlighting topics and complexities that are often over looked or underappreciated in the cable implementation process and I think you’ll agree that our authors have certainly hit that mark; and of course, our ever popular “Where In the World Are All Those Pesky Cableships” is included as well.

If ever there was a need for connectivity, it is today.

Good reading and stay well,

To read the rest of Issue #111 of SubTel Forum, please click here.