Mr. Takeru Sakairi

NTT Ltd. Japan Corporation
ICT Infrastructure Services Department Responsible for technological managment of submarine cable system construction and construction works.
Joined the JUPITER project in October 2017. A recent hobby is taking photographs of his daughter.

Ms. Miho Kanzaki

NTT Ltd. Japan Corporation
ICT Infrastructure Services Department Performs roles ranging from submarine cable system planning and design to consortium facilitator.
Responsible for obtaining the necessary approval and authorization from the Japanese Government and the American Government.

Ms. Kanzaki:　Demand for international data communications volume is continuing to increase more and more. Communications volume in Asia is especially increasing, and demand for cables to be laid in the Pacific Ocean is increasing. In a few years' time, we will probably be unable to keep up with demand with existing cables alone, and if preparations are not made now, there will be insufficient capacity for providing various services. This is why this project was launched.

Mr. Sakairi:　In consideration of the launch of 5G services in 2020 as well as anticipated growth in data communications volume for a range of services such as "clouds" and "data center activities", it was decided that it would be best to create a new cable. It was also determined that constructing a new cable was necessary for business in the future.

Mr. Sakairi:　"JUPITER" incorporates the latest transmission device, called "SLTE". Capable of transmitting 400 Gbps per wave, this high-tech device applies the very latest transmission technology. In terms of high vision images, the device is so fast that it is capable of transmitting approx. Three movies' worth of images in one second. You can say that it is currently the fastest in the world!

Ms. Kanzaki:　JUPITER has four cable landing stations: the Shima Cable Landing Station (Mie Prefecture, Japan), Maruyama Cable Landing Station (Chiba Prefecture, Japan), Daet Cable Landing Station (Philippines), and Los Angeles (California, USA). The system's cable branching devices are equipped with the very latest WSS (WSS ROADM: Wavelength Selective Switching Reconfigurable Optical Add Drop Multiplexing).

For example, say telecommunications usually use the Chiba--US route. When the cable is cut due to an earthquake or other event, all of the traffic can be switched remotely to the Mie--US route.

Mr. Sakairi:　NTT has the role of providing cable landing stations in Los Angeles in the US and Shima in Japan. In order to land cables it is necessary to obtain the permission of the national government, and so Ms. Kanzaki is working with the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), the licensing authority for the United States Federal Government. This is an extremely important role within the consortium.

Ms. Kanzaki:　I made a presentation to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington D.C. The US Government also has an organization called "Team Telecom", which comprises representatives from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and Department of Justice, and I also made a presentation to these people. I was really nervous. (Laughs.)

Mr. Sakairi:　In providing cable landing stations, NTT is not just providing station buildings and equipment. NTT has staff who work at the cable landing stations as well as the NOC (Network Operation Center), a department responsible for monitoring submarine cable systems, and WE Marine (NTT World Engineering Marine), a company that lays, operates, and maintains cables. You could say that this project brings together the total power of the NTT Group. Currently, cable laying is beginning in the ocean near Japan, and WE Marine's cable-laying ship SUBARU is laying the cables.

Mr. Sakairi:　The thick cable (on the left in the photograph) is used in shallow water. It has protection to ensure that that cable is not cut even if it gets caught on the fishing tackle of fishermen fishing in shallow waters or the anchors of commercial boats. Also, in shallow water the cable is buried in the mud on the ocean floor. The cable is dropped from the laying ship and buried remotely using a machine similar to a plow used in farming, the cable released gradually and buried in the trough dug by the machine.

Ms. Kanzaki:　The depth at which cables are buried in shallow waters differs from country to country. In Japan, it is around 1.5 m, but in other countries it can be 3 m, 5 m, or even 10 m. For example, Singapore is a distribution base and is visited by many tankers, and so it is prescribed that cables are buries at around 10 m below the seabed.

Mr. Sakairi:　The thin cable (on the right in the photograph) is a type of cable that is laid on the seabed at depths of 4,000 m, 5,000 m, and 8,000 m at the deepest. In deep waters, there is little risk of the cable being damaged by external elements such as tankers, and so thin cables such as this are laid on the surface of the seabed rather than being buried.

Ms. Kanzaki:　It's amazing that at a depth of 8,000 m, the seabed has a proper layer of mud and sand and the cable can lie on it properly.

Mr. Sakairi:　Certainly. The cable has to be pulled at an appropriate tension to ensure that sections of it does not twist. Conversely, it is not good for the cable to be pulled too tight, achieving "appropriate tension" is important. Before cables are laid, sensors and sonars are used, topographical surveys are conducted, and appropriate ship speeds and cable release speeds are calculated using simulations.

Mr. Sakairi:　Since the construction work is in the ocean, it is vital to ensure safety aspects so that accidents between ships do not occur. Construction work is carried out after fishermen, administrative bodies, the Ministry of Defense, the Coast Guard, and other organizations have been notified.

Ms. Kanzaki:　I was responsible for preparing the American cable landing station facilities, and making adjustments to ensure that facilities agreeable to all six consortium member companies were constructed was extremely difficult. Searching and negotiating for optimal solutions producing advantages for each of the six member companies was tremendously difficult.

Mr. Sakairi:　Of course, considering the future demand for and growth of IT, "JUPITER" alone will be insufficient. We want to catch-up with the latest technology in preparation for constructing the next cable with a view to the future. Furthermore, we wish to also extend these technologies to other consortium members and cultivate human resources for creating the next system. Moving forward, I intend to be conscious of this in my work activities.

Ms. Kanzaki:　Speaking of human resources, the NTT Groups has quite a large number of highly skilled staff--the cable construction team, cable landing station staff, and cable-laying/-operating workers, etc.

Mr. Sakairi:　Including people in positions such as Ms. Kanzaki, I think there are very few companies in the world that are capable of undertaking total cable construction and management to this extent.