Here is the video that was used in the launch.

PIPE INTERNATIONAL AND TYCO TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPLETE PPC-1 UNDERSEA CABLE SYSTEM: System to Link Australia to Guam, Generate Increased Competition in Australian Market

PIPE International, a fully owned subsidiary of PIPE Networks Limited (ASX: PWK), and Tyco Telecommunications, a business unit of Tyco Electronics and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, today announced they have completed the PPC-1 cable system.  The completion of the 6,900 km system linking Sydney to Guam will provide enhanced connectivity to the region and ultimately lower capacity costs by generating increased competition in the Australian undersea cable market.  "The on-schedule completion of PPC-1 marks a huge technological advancement for Australia," said Bevan Slattery, PIPE Networks CEO.  "We are proud to have successfully accomplished what many in the industry doubted could be done.  Further, we are confident this system will provide Australia with the bandwidth and competition needed to enhance both personal communications and international business efforts."

With a capacity of 2.56 terabits per second over two fiber pairs and 40 Gbs/sec capable, the PPC-1 system will provide diversity to the few existing routes in the region, in addition to onward connectivity to Asia and the United States.

"It is our sincere pleasure to congratulate PIPE on the successful completion of the PPC-1 cable system," said David Coughlan, Tyco Telecommunications President.  "Through unwavering cooperation and a mutual respect for each other and the tasks at hand, our companies were able to complete a challenging project in a timely fashion.  As a result, Australia will benefit for many years to come from a robust system that is comprised of the industry's most advanced subsea equipment."

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.

About PIPE Networks

PIPE Networks Limited (ASX: PWK) is a leading facilities-based telecommunications service provider in Australia.  The company owns the third largest metropolitan fibre optic network in Australia connecting to key strategic IT infrastructure locations.

Since its inception in 2002, the company has delivered sustainable revenue and profitability growth by offering reliable and cost effective dark fibre, managed ethernet, telehousing and peering products to internet service providers (ISPs), corporate customers and Government departments.  For further information please visit www.pipenetworks.com.

 

Contacts:

Bevan Slattery

Managing Director

+61 7 3233 9800

media@pipenetworks.com

 

Courtney McDaniel

Tyco Telecommunications

+1 973 656 8000

info@tycotelecom.com

 

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - The final countdown to the launch has begun.  Anticipation is building prior to the launch.  There is less the 48 hours to go until the official launch of PPC-1.  All systems are ready for launch on 8 October 2009.  The official launch is expected to be at approximately 11:00 am AEDT.  Prepare for launch.

With all the PPC-1 project activities in place all that is left for the PPC-1 project management team are miscellaneous errands.  One of these tasks includes the electronic consolidation of all the relevant documents and files from the project for the ongoing use by the operations team.  Brett Worrall, Lee Harper, Robin Webb and John Bradfield in the Sydney CLS attended to tasks such as these on the New South Wales public holiday today.

We have had a few posts about the Network Operations Centre ("NOC") so we thought we would give you a little more information about what the NOC does.  NOCs are a vital part of network infrastructure.  The essential task of the NOC involves surveillance of the health of the network 24/7/365.  The NOC also performs other vital functions.  These include: supporting the operating and engineering teams in maintaining the network; ensuring timely communication of planned maintenance works; coordinating activities associated with issue rectification; and generally processing requests from customers.

We had a few requests for the race results so we thought that we would post an update.  There was a pile-up at the start off the grid.  One of our props was damaged in the process.  As a consequence propulsion was lost on the port side of the duck.  This meant that the duck was unable to finish the race.  No doubt PIPE will return next year with a more awesome duck.

The PIPE team is hard at it again, this time getting their last batch of hands-on training on the Tyco system.  This is the last formal training session to be conducted and sees all three cable stations completing the training at the same time.  It focuses on the processes and procedures for using and maintaining the systems and backs up the largely theoretical B1 training completed a few months ago.

In the picture above you can see Lee flat on his back carrying out the inspection of some high voltage terminals in the PFE after Matt and John had completed an exercise in changing a high voltage module in one of the converters.

Forward Error Correction essentially improves the quality of a signal.  It works by adding error-correcting code to the incoming signal.  The client signals on the SLTE are clocked at the STM64 receiver at a rate of 9.95328 Gbit/s.  Error-correcting code is added to the incoming signal that increases the line rate of this bit stream to just over 12 Gbit/s.  Reed Solomon coding is one example of an algorithm used.  Recall the BER vs. Q relationship described in a previous blog entry and how the channel BER was determined by the Q of the channel.  With a forward error-correcting code added to the signal, the receiver can correct error rates as high as 1E-3 to better than 1E-13.  The Q required to achieve a set BER can be improved by over 8 db!

PIPE Networks Limited (ASX: PWK) subsidiary, PIPE International (Australia) Pty Ltd today announced that PPC-1 has successfully completed another major milestone by transmitting Internet Protocol (IP) packets end to end between Australia and the USA via Guam.

PIPE International in partnership with Australian internet innovator Internode Pty Ltd established IP connectivity from Sydney to San Jose via Guam with initial tests proving to be completely successful.

"The PPC-1 project has been an extraordinary journey ‘full of firsts', however we are delighted that this has been the ‘first' that we are able to share with one of our foundation customers, Internode", said Mr Slattery, CEO of PIPE Networks Ltd.

Simon Hackett (pictured), Managing Director of Internode said that PPC-1 passed its first tests with flying colours. "PPC-1 has successfully demonstrated its performance by allowing Internode to send Internet Protocol (IP) packets end-to-end between Australia and the USA via Guam", he said.

"As the first customer to successfully trial PPC-1 ahead of its official launch on the 8^th October 2009, Internode is completely confident in PPC-1's readiness for official handover to foundation customers, including Internode on October 8", Mr Hackett said.

Since PPC-1 passed first light on 23 August 2009, the teams at PIPE International and Tyco have been undertaking a rigorous testing regime on the system including full capacity testing, commissioning and acceptance testing of the Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) and Power Feed Equipment (PFE), and in the past week exhaustive confidence trials.  With these trials now nearing completion, PPC-1 has also been able to interconnect onward capacity from Tata Telecommunications to create end-to-end connectivity between Australia and the United States for testing.

The cable system remains on track for official handover to foundation customers on 8^th October, 2009.

For further information please visit PPC-1 blog at www.pipeinternational.com.

About PIPE International

PIPE International, a subsidiary of PIPE Networks Limited (ASX: PWK) provides secured and fast international bandwidth from Australia to the US and Asia.  PIPE International is in the process of constructing the first carrier neutral submarine cable "PIPE Pacific Cable (PPC-1)" which is expected to be fully operational from 8th October 2009.  PPC-1 represents a significant milestone in the Australian telecommunications industry, as it has the potential to increase competition for international data traffic and offer true diversity to the US and Asia.

For further information please visit www.pipeinternational.com.

About PIPE Networks

PIPE Networks Limited (ASX:PWK) is a leading facilities-based telecommunications service provider in Australia.  The company owns the third largest metropolitan fibre optic network in Australia connecting to key strategic IT infrastructure locations.

Since its inception in 2002, the company has delivered sustainable revenue and profitability growth by offering reliable and cost effective dark fibre, managed ethernet, telehousing and peering products to internet service providers (ISPs), corporate customers and Government departments.

For further information please visit www.pipenetworks.com.au.

About Internode

Internode is a first tier IP carrier committed to using broadband technology to redefine the national telecommunications environment.  The Australian-owned company is a trailblazer that delivers broadband services to individuals and businesses throughout Australia.

Follow Internode online at www.internode.on.net/about/follow_us_online.

Over the weekend the Confidence Trial came to an end.  The results from the Confidence Trial will be compiled into a report which is called the ‘Commissioning Report'.  The results will be reviewed for conformity with the specifications.  Given the indications to date there are not expected to be any significant issues.