SEA-ME-WE 4

South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) is an optical fibre submarine communications cable system that carries telecommunications between Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria and France. cite web | url=http://www.seamewe4.net/commonhtm.jsp?htm=htm/about_us.htm | title=About Us | accessdate=2008-01-31 | year=2004 | work=SEA-ME-WE4 Network Administration System | publisher=Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070706041700/http://www.seamewe4.net/commonhtm.jsp?htm=htm/about_us.htm | archivedate=2007-07-06 ]

The cable is approximately 18,800 kilometres long, and provides the primary Internet backbone between South East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Europe.cite web | url=http://www.seamewe4.com/inpages/about_sea_me_we_4.asp| title=About SEA-WE-ME 4 | accessdate=2008-01-31| work=South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4| publisher=Sri Lanka Telecom | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070705145021/http://www.seamewe4.com/inpages/about_sea_me_we_4.asp|archivedate=2007-07-05]

Network topology

The SEA-ME-WE 4 system is divided into four segments with seventeen landing points: cite web | url=http://www.seamewe4.com/inpages/cable_system.asp | title=Cable System Configuration | accessdate=2008-01-31 | work=South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 | publisher=Sri Lanka Telecom | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070804064353/http://www.seamewe4.com/inpages/cable_system.asp | archivedate=2007-08-04]

;Segments:
*S1 - Tuas to Mumbai
*S2 - Mumbai to Suez
*S3 - Suez to Cairo
*S4 - Cairo to Marseille

;Landing points1. Marseille, France

2. Annaba, Algeria

3. Bizerte, Tunisia

4. Palermo, Italy

5. Alexandria, Egypt

6. Cairo, Egypt (overland)

7. Suez, Egypt (overland/return)

8. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

9. Fujairah, United Arab Emirates

10. Karachi, Pakistan

11. Mumbai, India

12. Colombo, Sri Lanka

13. Chennai, India

14. Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

15. Satun, Thailand

16. Melaka/Malacca, Malaysia

17. Tuas, Singapore

History

The SEA-ME-WE 4 cable system was developed by a consortium of 16 telecommunications companies which agreed to construct the project on March 27, 2004. Construction of the system was carried out by Alcatel Submarine Networks (now Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, a division of Alcatel-Lucent) and Fujitsu. The eighteen month construction project was completed on December 13, 2005 with a cost estimate of US$500 million.cite web | url=http://www.fujitsu.com/global/news/pr/archives/month/2005/20051213-01.html | title=Fujitsu Completes Construction of SEA-ME-WE 4 Submarine Cable Network | accessdate=2008-01-31 | date=2005-12-13 | work=Fujitsu Press Release | publisher=Fujitsu | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070317223056/http://www.fujitsu.com/global/news/pr/archives/month/2005/20051213-01.html | archivedate=2007-03-17] Segment 1 construction, running 8,000 kilometres from Singapore to India, was done by Fujitsu, which also provided the submarine repeater equipment for Segment 4.

Damage to SEA-ME-WE 4

On January 30, 2008, Internet services were widely disrupted in the Middle East and in the Indian subcontinent following damage to the SEA-ME-WE 4 and FLAG Telecom cables in the Mediterranean Sea. Disruptions of 70 percent in Egypt, and 60 percent in India were reported along with problems in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.cite news | title=Severed cables disrupt Internet | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7218008.stm | work=BBC News | date=2008-01-31 | accessdate=2008-01-31] [cite news | title=Cable Break Causes Wide Internet Outage | url=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Internet-Outages.html | date=1 February 2008 | author=The Associated Press | work=The New York Times | accessdate=2008-02-01] In India, small users felt the impact while ISPs could service large users who have more lucrative contracts.

While the respective contributions of the two cable systems to this blackout is unclear, network outage graphs show anomalies at 0430 UTC and again at 0800 UTC.cite web | url=http://www.renesys.com/blog/2008/01/mediterranean_cable_break_1.shtml#more | title=Mediterranean Cable Break | accessdate=2008-01-31 | last=Zmijewski | first=Earl | date=2008-01-30 | work=Renesys Blog | publisher=Renesys] The FALCON submarine communications cable was reported severed off the coast of Dubai in the Persian Gulf on 1 February 2008, making it the third over a two day period.cite news | title=New cable cut compounds net woes | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7222536.stm | work=BBC News Online | publisher=BBC | date=2008-02-01 | accessdate=2008-02-01]

Though the cause of the damage to SEA-ME-WE 4 or FLAG has not been declared by either cable operator and 12 hours of video before and after the incident show no ships being in the area, cite news
title=Ships did not cause Internet cable damage | work=Khaleej Times Online | accessdate=2008-02-03 | date=2008-02-03 | url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2008/February/theworld_February77.xml&section=theworld&col] a number of sources speculate these were caused by a ship's anchor near Alexandria, cite news
title=Cable damage hits Internet connectivity | work=The Times of India | accessdate=2008-01-31 | date=2008-01-31 | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cable_damage_hits_Internet_connectivity/articleshow/2745082.cms ] while the Kuwait government attributes the breaks to "weather conditions and maritime traffic."cite news |author=Agence France Press | title=Indian outsourcing sector hit by Internet disruption | url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gadarOY4frbM-XSyXS0_wMfxpHig | publisher=Google News | date=2008-01-31| accessdate=2008-01-31 ] "The New York Times" reported that the damage occurred to the two systems separately near Alexandria and Marseilles.cite news | issn=0362-4331 | last=Timmons | first=Heather | title=2 Communication Cables in the Mediterranean Are Cut | work=The New York Times | accessdate=2008-01-31 | date=2008-01-31 | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/business/worldbusiness/31cable.html?ref=business ] The water near Alexandria is restricted and Egypt knew of "no passing ships" at the time.cite news|author=Brauer, David|title=High-tech mystery: Are terrorists behind recent Internet disruptions?|url=http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/02/04/771/high-tech_mystery_are_terrorists_behind_recent_internet_disruptions|work=MinnPost.com|publisher=MinnPost|date=February 4, 2008|accessdate=2008-02-04]

Currently, SEA-ME-WE 3 is the only remaining cable connecting Europe to the Middle East via Egypt. Data transmission capacity between India and Europe has been reduced by 75 percent, causing much of the traffic between these sites to be rerouted through the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Management and administration

The SEA-ME-WE 4 cable system was proposed and developed by the SEA-ME-WE 4 Consortium. The Consortium continues to maintain and operate the system. It comprises 16 telecommunications companies: cite web | url=http://www.seamewe4.com/mc_index.asp?subComID=6 | title=The Management Committee (MC) | accessdate=2008-01-31 | work=South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 | publisher=Sri Lanka Telecom | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070210043127/http://www.seamewe4.com/mc_index.asp?subComID=6|archivedate=2007-02-10 ]

*Algérie Télécom, Algeria
*Bharti Infotel Limited, India
*Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, Bangladesh
*CAT Telecom Public Company Limited, Thailand
*Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (ETISALAT), UAE
*France Telecom - Long Distance Networks, France
*MCI, UK
*Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, Pakistan
*Singapore Telecommunication Company Limited (Singtel), Singapore
*Sri Lanka Telecom Limited (SLT), Sri Lanka
*Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Saudi Arabia
*Telecom Egypt (TE), Egypt
*Telecom Italia Sparkle S.p.A., Italy
*Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), Malaysia
*Tunisie Telecom, Tunisia
*Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), India

The consortium is a hierarchical organisation which operates, manages and administers the cable system. At the top of the hierarchy is the Management Committee,cite web | url=http://www.seamewe4.com/inpages/organization_structure.asp | title=Organization Structure | accessdate=2008-01-31 | work=South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 | publisher=Sri Lanka Telecom | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070804064343/http://www.seamewe4.com/inpages/organization_structure.asp | archivedate=2007-08-04 ] which steers the project. Bodies subordinate to the Management Committee include the Procurement Group; Operation and Maintenance; the Financial & Administrative Subcommittee; Assignment, Routing and Restoration; and Investment and Agreement. Other bodies in the organisation are the Central Billing Party which is subordinate to the Financial & Administrative Subcommittee, and the Network Administrator which is subordinate to Assignment, Routing and Restoration.

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited, the network administrator for the cable system and Telekom Malaysia Berhad, is responsible for the Central Billing Party.cite web | url=http://www.cbpsmw4.com/ | title=Home page | accessdate=2008-01-31 | work=SMW 4 Central Billing Party (CBP) | publisher=Telekom Malaysia Berhad | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070607210553/http://www.cbpsmw4.com/ | archivedate=2007-07-07]

Applications

SEA-ME-WE 4 is used to carry "telephone, internet, multimedia and various broadband data applications". The SEA-ME-WE 3 and the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable systems are intended to provide redundancy for each other. The two cable systems are complementary, but separate, and 4 is not intended to replace 3. Both derive from the same series of projects (SEA-ME-WE), but have different emphases. SEA-ME-WE 3 is far longer at 39 000 kilometres cite web | title=Mediterranean Cable Break | url=http://www.reach.com/network/overview.php | Overview | accessdate=2008-02-01 | work=REACH : Network | publisher=Reach Global Services Limited | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070621165753/http://reach.com/network/overview.php | archivedate=2007-06-21 ] (compare to SEA-ME-WE 4's 18 800 kilometres) and extends from Japan and Australia along the bottom of the Eurasian landmass to Ireland and Germany. cite web | url=http://www.seamewe3.com/inpages/cable_system.asp | title=Cable System Configuration | accessdate=2008-02-01 | work=South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 3 | publisher=Sri Lanka Telecom | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070714175845/http://www.seamewe3.com/inpages/cable_system.asp | archivedate=2007-07-14 ] SEA-ME-WE 4 has a faster rate of data transmission at 1.28 terabits per second against SEA-ME-WE 3's 10 gigabits per second. SEA-ME-WE 3 provides connectivity to a greater number of countries over a greater distance, but SEA-ME-WE 4 provides far higher data transmission speeds intended to accommodate increasing demand for high-speed internet access in developing countries.

Technologies

The cable uses dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM), allowing for increased communications capacity per fibre compared to fibres carrying non-multiplexed signals and also facilitates bidirectional communication within a single fibre. DWDM does this by multiplexing different wavelengths of laser light on a single optical fibre so that multiple optical carrier signals can be concurrently transmitted along that fibre. Two fibre pairs are used with each fibre pair able to carry 64 wavelengths at 10 gigabits per second per wavelength. This enables terabit per second speeds along the SEA-WE-ME 4 cable, with a total capacity of 1.28 Tbit/s.

References

External links

* [http://www.seamewe4.com/ South East Asia Middle East Western Europe 4 project website]
* [http://www.seamewe4.net/ SEA-ME-WE4 Network Administration System]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7228315.stm Work begins to repair severed net]