Speaking at an ITW 2023 panel titled: Cable ties – what partnerships and projects will connect the world in 2025, Hobbs outlined his belief that government funding is essential to build out networks, particularly in a world where the geopolitical environment complicates matters.
The panel was moderated by Erik Kreifeldt, principal analyst at TeleGeography and featured Gina Bohreer, SVP for Norther America at BW Digital, Giuseppe Valentino, VP of product management backbone and infrastructure solutions at Sparkle, Alfred Au Yeung, head of strategic transactions at Telstra and Monica Martinez, marketing director at Telxius.
Hobbs added that the “future will all be about partnerships” in the industry, and that will be key moving forward as organisations in telecoms look for different ways to serve customers.
Challenges
Au Yeung said that building a subsea system is challenging enough, and that difficulty is only accentuated with the rise of geopolitical issues, regulation and lack of local infrastructure are thrown into the mix.
“Over the last few years, the subsea community has gone through a very challenging and expensive learning experience,” he said.
“Limiting delays and managing a system has been the theme of the last few years.”
He adds that traditional hubs like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan are still very relevant, but you’re seeing other countries, that may not have previously been at the forefront, reap the benefits.
This includes the Southeast Asian countries entering the fray including the likes of Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Moving forward, the panel agreed that while it may be impossible to tell if geopolitical situations will improve, the industry is evolving to combat these issues.
