Hi all,
i just read that a new high speed under-sea cable is being constructed between Asia and the US.
The so called Trans-Pacific Express will greatly increase our internet speeds to the US… FINALLY!!!
Sadly it takes some time… It is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2008.
More details at:
presseecho.de/wirtschaft/NA3730916632.htm
redherring.com/Article.aspx? … na+Profile
BTW, landing point of the cable in Taiwan will be Danshui… Great! I live there!!!
Cheers
Mr. Rice
Technology is amazing.
In a way, ocean-crossing cables seem so primitive and old-fashioned. For god’s sake, laying a freaking cable on the ocean floor, apparently through painstaking efforts involving many ships in the deep sea, so the cable lies there susceptible to strong currents, getting snagged, tangled or snapped, or god knows what else down there, rather than a satelite or other 21st century means. But, I understand they are essential.
Incidentally, I was involved in an interesting legal case a few years ago, involving a company that had a huge monetary claim against one of the companies that installed a prior undersea cable to Taiwan and had a security interest in the cable, to protect its investment. The case was interesting because the way a security interest works, if the party doesn’t pay their debt you can take the collateral and sell it to get your money back. But that cable (and perhaps all of them) was owned by many different companies, due to the huge expense. So what good is the security interest? How can you take the collateral and sell it? The debtor was just one of maybe 8 companies that owned an interest in the entire length of the cable. The matter was complicated further with regard to determining what country’s law should apply, because the cable runs through various countries and international territories.
It’s just so they can flush you straight to Gitmo, I suspect.
HG
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]Technology is amazing.
In a way, ocean-crossing cables seem so primitive and old-fashioned. For god’s sake, laying a freaking cable on the ocean floor, apparently through painstaking efforts involving many ships in the deep sea, so the cable lies there susceptible to strong currents, getting snagged, tangled or snapped, or god knows what else down there, rather than a satelite or other 21st century means. But, I understand they are essential.
… [/quote]
Ther are no strong currents in deep waters … and the snagging is done mostly in coastal waters by fishing boats … and cables do a better job than satellites … when not cut up 
You would prefer the time lag and expense of sending stuff via satellite, rather than using the incredibly sophisticated and relatively cheap technology employed in cable? There’s only so mush transponder space, and so many useful orbits available, but you can add more cables as needed pretty much indefinitely.
Interestingly, the first transatlantic cable was melted by uninformed engineers who thought you could send more data by increasing the voltage. Presumably, in the 21st century, these same people would fry satellites by firing more and more powerful radio waves at them?