The rest of August and early September will see the installation of Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) and Power Feed Equipment (PFE) in the Cable Landing Station at Ngeremlengui (BSCC’s CAP-N). The cable ship KDDI Pacific Link will be in Palau waters to collect and connect the double-armoured Pre-Lay Shore End (PLSE) laid back in June, and then lay cable out to make the final splice with the stub on the Branching Unit (BU) on the big SEA-US Cable, that will carry the Palau traffic to and from Guam.
The final splice means we will have an end-to-end-system for the first time. While all the components have been tested at the factory, and again after loading, and again after installation, it is only when they are all connected together that we can get down to the formal acceptance process, which involves considerable testing by both the supplier, NEC, and by the purchaser, BSCC. BSCC will deploy PMU engineers on board the cable ship, and on the ground in Palau, to ensure that the specifications are met.
Here is the interior of the CLS, after the first week of installation (thanks to NEC for the pic):
So far, the focus has been on the Power Feed Equipment (PFE). We require significant DC power for the repeater and branching unit on BSCCnet.
Initial access to BSCCnet will be available at CAP-N.
BSCC will establish a further CAP-A in Airai, at the airport site, linked to CAP-N by optical fibre, buried to the maximum practical extent. This network extension should be completed by mid-2018. To accommodate customer access at CAP-N from our expected Ready For Service (RFS) date in December 2017, BSCC is constructing a radio mast to support high speed Gigabit per second IP Radio links.
The existing PNCC network is also in place at CAP-N. Once CAP-A is operational, customers will be able to connect in a meet-me space designed to facilitate interconnection. CAP-N is a customised modular Cable Landing Station (CLS), and not big enough to also include a meet-me space. It is designed as a sanitised building to house BSCC’s highly sophisticated submarine terminal equipment.
A procurement process for the CAP-A extension will be under way soon.
Meanwhile, the cable for BSCCnet has been loaded on board the cable ship, and the post-load testing is completed. Cable for the Yap and Chuuk cables, which will be laid before Palau on the same deployment, was also loaded.
Here is the team from NEC, along with representatives from purchasers, after the Shinto ceremony held earlier this month for safety in the marine phase of the project.
And here are BSCC PMU’s engineers, Martin Blakely and Nishikawa-san, at the shrine:
These two engineers do look formidable. They have played a formidable part in our progress so far, and they will ensure that Palau’s best interests are served throughout the coming very busy month.
The KDDI Pacific Link is now under way, and will be in Palauan waters in early September!
We remain bang on track for RFS in December 2017, a credit to the whole team from NEC (submarine cable network), Surangel and Sons Construction (civil works), McCann Consulting International (Project Management Unit), Flexenclosure (modular CLS) and Globe Telecom (capacity on SEA-US).