By Tyco

Tyco Telecommunications, a business unit of Tyco Electronics and an industry pioneer and leader in undersea communications technology, today announced it successfully deployed a new, top-of-the-line shore-end plow in a recent cable landing operation. The plow, which enables continuity of burial from beach to deep water, provides enhanced efficiency and shallow water burial capability without the need for manual diver jet burial.

“The new shore-end plow was an essential tool in our recent operation and resulted in a seamless and efficient cable landing, demonstrating its value to our installation team and customers,” said James Herron, managing director at Tyco Telecommunications. “It is our top priority to provide our customers with not only the highest-quality products and services, but also the ability to customize solutions to meet their unique needs; our new shore-end plow undoubtedly provides our customers with the ultimate flexibility for varied cable landing environments.”

The shore-end plow is just one example of Tyco Telecommunications' recent additions and major enhancements to the tools and capabilities of its fleet of eight ships.  Already the most technologically advanced and youngest fleet in the industry, these significant investments anticipate the increasingly rigorous technical demands that will be required for undersea cable installation and maintenance in the next decade.  A key objective of the upgrade program is to equip every vessel with a complete set of tools, cable plows and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), to provide multi-mission flexibility fleet-wide, enabling Tyco Telecommunications to continue to globally deploy the most robust and advanced equipment in the subsea cable industry.

Included in the current upgrade program are a range of state-of-the-art sea plows, cable tracking systems for ROVs, integrated computer control systems and communication systems.  These consist of:

Cable Burial Plows:  Beyond the recently deployed shore-end plow, three additional top-of-the-line deep sea cable plows have been added to Tyco Telecommunications' existing inventory of cable installation and repair tools.  Designed and proven for operation in a variety of seabed environments ranging from sand to firm clays, the new plows are capable under suitable conditions of trenching and burying submarine cable to a depth of 3.0 meters in down to 2,000 meters of water depth.

ROV Tracking Systems:  The Tyco Telecommunications ROV fleet has been upgraded with the latest technology for tracking and locating subsea telecommunications cables.  This new system, along with the recent addition of state-of-the-art profiling systems, provides unsurpassed survey and inspection capabilities.

Control Systems:  Tyco Telecommunications now maintains the latest computer control and monitoring systems on its ships, which fully integrate engine room, bridge and cable laying operations, providing the highest degree of installation accuracy and reliability.  Using multiple inputs, including motion-reference units, differential global positioning data, and underwater acoustic reference systems, these systems provide unparalleled maneuverability and increase operational efficiency.

Satellite Communications:  Tyco Telecommunications has implemented a fleet-wide enhancement of its shipboard satellite communications systems and now has real time internet, high-speed data transmission and VoIP telephone communication for vessel, project and customer use.  This significant upgrade benefits operational management and improves the quality of life at sea by providing a shipboard communications capability equal to an office environment.

“The advancements we've made in our fleet of ships and tools provide us with industry-best capability and increased flexibility to best serve a diverse range of customers and requirements,” said Herron. “These recent investments clearly reinforce our strong commitment to excellence and help further solidify the company as the world's premier marine service provider in the undersea cable and adjacent markets.  With this multi-mission capability and our second-to-none team of dedicated professionals, we are extremely proud of our industry-leading position and look forward to continuing to enable the success of our customers.”

About Tyco Telecommunications

Tyco Telecommunications, a business unit of Tyco Electronics and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology and marine services, is a leading global supplier for today's undersea communications requirements.

Drawing on its heritage of technical innovation and industry recognized performance, the company delivers the most reliable, high-quality solutions to organizations with undersea communications needs vital to their core mission. In more than five decades of operation, Tyco Telecommunications has designed, manufactured, and installed more than 100 undersea fiber optic systems around the world. Tyco Telecommunications' global presence, backed by industry leading research and development laboratories, manufacturing facilities, installation and maintenance ships, depots, and management team work together to implement integrated solutions and network upgrades, with unsurpassed reliability, that support the needs of telecommunications, internet providers, offshore and science customers worldwide.

For more information visit www.tycotelecom.com.