2002 WORLD CUP
CABLE SHIP LOADING
CABLE-REPEATER INTERGRATION
In 2002, the FIFA World Cup was held in Japan and Korea: the first time it had been staged in Asia. But a global sporting spectacle that can’t be seen by people all over the world can hardly claim to be a global sporting spectacle! To allow that to happen, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea had to be linked by a cable network, later named FNAL/RNAL (Fibre North Asia Loop/Reach North Asia Loop). The founder members of Indicomm Global, both highly experienced subsea telecoms engineers, played a key role in the project.
Subsea communications work is always an engineering challenge. Pre-installation surveys are carried out, as well as post surveys to check that cables are where they are supposed to be, but the vagaries of the weather and currents mean that six months after a cable has been laid, shifting sand may have buried it. This was a project that needed experienced engineers who were familiar with such operational conditions.
The precise date and time when the referee would blow his whistle to start the opening game was set in stone, so, unlike the sands on the ocean floor, this was a deadline that would not be shifting. On 15 April 2002, the cable was handed over, ahead of schedule and within budget. The overall cost of the FNAL/RNAL project was £490 million. Commercially it was a huge success, made possible by the hard work and determination of the highly skilled engineers involved in the project. Almost two years later, Indicomm Global was founded, carrying forward the same principles and values that were at the heart of the FNAL/RNAL project.
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In 2002, the FIFA World Cup was held in Japan and Korea: the first time it had been staged in Asia. But a global sporting spectacle that can’t be seen by people all over the world can hardly claim to be a global sporting spectacle! To allow that to happen, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea had to be linked by a cable network, later named FNAL/RNAL (Fibre North Asia Loop/Reach North Asia Loop).