STF Mag Feature: See You in Hawaii!

By Elaine Stafford
November 29, 2021

Hundreds of people have already registered to return to Honolulu for PTC’22: Reunite. Rethink. Renew. and we hope you do, too!

Many of us submarine cable aficionados and enthusiasts from around the globe are looking forward to reuniting for PTC’s annual Submarine Cable Workshops after a long, two-year respite. The event will be held on Sunday, 16 Januaryat the Hilton Hawaiian Village® Waikiki Beach Resort. Learn more at PTC.ORG/PTC22.

Sticking with the PTC’22 theme: “Reunite. Rethink. Renew.,” we’ve planned what we believe will be an extraordinarily interesting program, featuring some of the most renowned critical thinkers in our industry.

The Sunday Workshop will start with our traditional around the world update, providing insights on new cables and challenges in each ocean across the globe. There’s a lot to catch up on. Since COVID-19 began, the industry has already managed to install several cables across the Atlantic, and many others are underway. We’ll not only focus on the traditional routes that are always important to global communications – but this year, we’re also adding a session on the Arctic region, where more and more projects are being realized, and both small and large projects are being planned despite the challenges of cold weather, ice, and politics. We’ve invited Peder Naerbo, head of BULK (in Norway), to lead that discussion. The speaker roundup for the other regions includes Funke Opeke, Erick Contag, Mike Constable, Mike Rieger, Paul McCann, and Philippe Dumont. Tony Mosley of OSI will be back chairing the session. The market is stronger than it has been for many years and there’s a lot to catch up on since the last face-to-face at PTC’20.

The workshop would not be complete without a global update on regulatory issues from Kent Bressie. He’ll bring us updates on some of the challenges he’s helping to navigate as cable owners seek approval to land and operate cables in the U.S. given today’s geopolitical challenges and recent decisions. Despite the increasing connectivity of the world and greater diversity of data centers, the U.S. remains a primary destination for many of the world’s most capable cables. Kent will also share what ICPC is doing to productively influence cable-related policies (especially planning and environmental) across the globe. No doubt – this is one of the most critical issues our industry faces today.

To continue reading the rest of this article, please read it in Issue 121 of the SubTel Forum Magazine on page 24 or on our archive site here.