Others News
- Local cables get the go-ahead
Date: 6-Nov-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
A Shanghai company has developed a technology that will usher in a new phase of development in deep-water fiber-optic submarine cables in the country.
The new technology, which took six years to develop, has been approved by the Ministry of Information Industry, said Xue Chi, general manager of Zhongtian Technologies Submarine Cable Co Ltd.
Previously, only the world's major optical communications multinationals in the United States and Japan had the technology.
Industry insiders said the new cable can compete with those produced overseas. The company has applied to the International Telecom Union (ITU) for a certificate that will allow it to enter the world market.
'The technology will be tested for about a year before it can pass ITU examination,' Xue said.
Tao Xinhua, chief engineer of the company, said the certificate will allow Zhongtian to compete globally.
China has invested in construction of the world's 18 international submarine fiber-optic cables, but all the technologies are overseas.
'We will be able to compete on the world market in the near future if we are granted the certificate,' said Tao.
Zhongtian built a plant in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, with an investment of 200 million yuan and an annual design capacity of 5,000 km of submarine cables.
'But it depends on the market as to when the plant can reach the target,' Xue said.
The new cable can be laid at 5,000 meters below sea level, said Tao.
Fiber-optic cables produced by China used to be laid at depths of 200 to 500 meters below sea level along the coast, to connect islands.
Zhongtian holds half the market share in China, which uses more than 3,000 km of shallow-water fiber-optic submarine cables.
The world's deep-water fiber-optic submarine cable market is currently monopolized by Alcatel and other companies from the United States and Japan.
'The market potential is great, now that the world's demand for communications is growing fast,' Tao said.
More than 300,000 km of deep-water submarine cables have been laid worldwide.
The first 6,700-km submarine fiber-optic cable was laid across the Atlantic Ocean in 1988 to connect Britain and France with the United States.
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