A presentation to the techUK Subsea Cable Summit
By: Communications
Professor Gerard Parr, from UEA's School of Computing Sciences, was recently invited to present at the techUK Subsea Cable Summit last week. This links to his work with India on Future Telecoms Infrastructure across optical, wireless and satellite transport.
The event was by invitation-only, with participants from the Cable Telecoms industry and UK Government agencies, to help shape the current policy and regulatory debate on subsea cables, the UK's internet resilience and lessons we could learn from other jurisdictions on this matter. The event covered a sector review, and highlighted how essential subsea cables are to the UK’s economic security and innovation.
Some interesting facts to note:
- There are 559 cable systems globally, as of June 2023 – that’s 485 in-service systems, with another 75+ planned.
- There are 1636 landing stations.
- It’s estimated that there are nearly 1.4 million kms (0.9 million miles) of submarine cables in service globally.
- 99% of all Global Telecoms Traffic traverses these subsea telecoms cables, and 60 come ashore around the UK coastline.
- A significant number of the subsea telecoms cable that land in the UK traverse Irish Waters, and there is a need for close collaboration between the UK and Ireland.
- Cables are crucial to communication systems around the world and are potentially vulnerable to natural, accidental and hostile activity, which could cause “major damage to our nation”, including cutting financial activity of up to £7.4 trillion ($9.2 trillion) per day.
Attendees and speakers included representatives from the incumbent subsea cable telecoms operators; subsea cable vendors and commercial repair and maintenance firms, and industry bodies; security stakeholders; end-users; and independent industry experts.
Related Articles
UEA Computer Science student powers up her career during Adobe placement
From being the first intern to win the ‘Own the Outcome’ award to learning where she wants her future career to go, Grace Johnson’s placement year at Adobe was filled with achievement.
Read more
New UEA degree in Artificial Intelligence to harness the potential of tomorrow’s world
A new postgraduate degree in AI has been launched at the University of East Anglia. The programme, starting in September, is designed to provide students with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to excel in a rapidly evolving field.
Read more
UK and India join forces to shape the future of telecoms
The UK and India are teaming up in a landmark £1.1 million project, called the UK-India Future Networks Initiative (UKI-FNI), to revolutionise the future of telecoms, which will be led by the University of East Anglia.
Read more