earth science

Pipe Pacific Cable

Pipe Pacific Cable is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pipe Pacific Cable rather than just read about it. In short: PIPE Pacific Cable (PPC-1) is a 6,900 km submarine cable laid by PIPE Networks. It runs from Cromer, New South Wales, in Australia, to Piti, Guam.

Key takeaways

Pipe Pacific Cable belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pipe Pacific Cable to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pipe Pacific Cable from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PIPE Pacific Cable (PPC-1) is a 6,900 km submarine cable laid by PIPE Networks. It runs from Cromer, New South Wales, in Australia, to Piti, Guam. It resulted in huge international backhaul cost savings to Australian customers, for access to the US internet backbone, quoting up to "50% savings" versus existing cable operators.

Capacity Quoting directly from PIPE International's PPC-1's Blog, substantial capacity will be available on the submarine cable network:

"PPC-1 will be configured primarily as a two optic-fibre pair system however it will include up to an additional 4 optic fibre pairs providing the potential to install spurs extending to a number of strategic locations within and outside of Australia. The main backbone will be laid in deep water with landings in Sydney, Australia and Piti, Guam. The main segment of the network will cover approximately 6,500 km. It will use the latest submarine wave division multiplexing to provide up to 96x10 Gbps wavelengths on each fibre pair, producing a total of 1.92 Terabits of capacity." During the official launch, PIPE Network's CEO Bevan Slattery said the new cable would now deliver speeds at an even greater capacity than originally planned, 2.56 terabits per second in total. In September 2012, an upgrade was announced that would take the capacity available on the cable past the original design capacity of 2.56 terabits per second, to around 3 terabits per second.

Construction Submarine cable laying commenced at the end of April 2009. The Guam to Papua New Guinea segment of the cable was completed in May 2009, with the ship Tyco Durable commencing on the 4 segments from Sydney to Papua New Guinea. In June 2009, most cabling work south of Brisbane was completed, leaving two cable segments—from BU2 (Branching Unit) near Brisbane up to BU4 near Madang – to be laid before commissioning. On 23 August 2009 the first light signal was transmitted over the completed cable from Sydney to Guam. This marked the completion of the submarine cabling work, and testing of the system began. On 22 September 2009, Internode released a press release claiming successful transmission of IP packets across the cable, making it the first commercial entity to make use of the cable. The project was formally completed on 8 October 2009.

Cable landing points The cable runs from Sydney to Guam. The cable landing points are:

Cromer, New South Wales, Australia Madang, Papua New Guinea Piti, Guam

Financial Realignment On 19 December 2008, it was reported that a "realignment of payments" was organised between PIPE, its PPC-1 customers, and Tyco Telecom, the primary contractor on the project. Some saw this as PPC-1 striking financial difficulties, however the timing of payments were realigned to allow Tyco to continue the work with respect to meeting the construction deadline of July 2009. PIPE delivered a media release confirming this realignment, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Tyco Telecom, and a key customer, to secure the financial go-ahead for the project. It confirmed that:

"On 1 December 2008 PIPE Networks announced that given the unacceptable delays in the credit approval process, the Board of PPC-1 (Bermuda) Ltd had decided to withdraw from proposed arrangements with those financiers." Mr Roger Clarke, Chairman of PIPE Networks said "It is a testament to the commercial potential and importance of the project that an alternative agreement could be reached that sidestepped the debt markets for primary project financing. I congratulate the team who have been working tirelessly over the past three weeks to bring about this outstanding outcome."

See also PIPE Networks Other Australian international submarine cables (and year of first service): Telstra Endeavour (2008) Australia–Japan Cable (2001) Southern Cross Cable (2000) SEA-ME-WE 3 (2000, Australian portion in service earlier) JASURAUS (1997) – now retired PacRimWest (1995) – now retired

References

External links Pipe International Overview Archived 6 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Geography of Cable Route (inc. Map) Progress Report Pipe Networks Archived 30 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pipe Pacific Cable

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pipe Pacific Cable claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pipe Pacific Cable before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pipe Pacific Cable ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pipe Pacific Cable

In research: Pipe Pacific Cable appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pipe Pacific Cable in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pipe Pacific Cable is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2009 establishments in Australia, 2009 establishments in Guam, 2009 establishments in Papua New Guinea, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pipe Pacific Cable outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pipe Pacific Cable in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pipe Pacific Cable means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pipe Pacific Cable out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pipe Pacific Cable in simple terms?

PIPE Pacific Cable (PPC-1) is a 6,900 km submarine cable laid by PIPE Networks. It runs from Cromer, New South Wales, in Australia, to Piti, Guam.

Why does Pipe Pacific Cable matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pipe Pacific Cable?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pipe Pacific Cable.