0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) (09/26/90)
The following news release from AT&T didn't seem to make any visible
general press. It may however have some interest for readers of the
Digest:
AT&T and Kokusai Denshin Denwa Ltd. (KDD), of Japan, will donate
to the U.S. and Japanese scientific community a portion of
TransPacific Cable-1, the first undersea cable system to span the
Pacific.
The 26-year-old cable, which carried up to 138 simultaneous
telephone conversations, was replaced in April, 1989 by a fiber-optic
cable with a capacity of 40,000 simultaneous calls. It continued to
function as a backup system until last month.
The retired copper cable will be given to the Earthquake Research
Institute of the University of Tokyo and the Incorporated Research
Institute for Seismology (IRIS) in the U.S. on November 1.
The two groups will use the 2,656-kilometer cable system the
backbone of an undersea observation system to monitor acoustical
waves, geomagnetism, water pressure and temperature, speed of water
current, and other seismological factors. The cable had formerly been
used to handle telephone traffic between Japan and Guam.
The system will make it possible for scientists to study the sea
bed between the Philippine Plate and the Pacific Plate, where
earthquakes occur frequently. It is expected to increase the accuracy
of earthquake and tidal wave forecasting and to advance understanding
of the inner structure of the earth.
AT&T Bell Laboratories scientists, who developed the cable,
predict that the vacuum tubes in the system's underwater amplifiers
will, after 25 years of telecommunications life, now have a scientific
lifetime of 50 or even hundreds of years.
"This cable, which has served to bring the cultures and economies
of the U.S. and Far East closer together, will continue to serve
scientists in their search for fuller understanding of the scope and
implications of the natural mysteries of our planet," said James
Barrett, Deputy Director, AT&T International Communications Services.
At its retirement last month, TransPacific Cable-1,
state-of-the-art technology in 1964, was still functioning reliably as
part of an overall system from California to Japan. Its replacement
digital optical system was built by AT&T and KDD for their
international information service needs as well as those of a
consortium of 20 additional owners.
# # #
Not too shabby for a bunch of researchers to have their own private
group of 138 voice channels between Guam and Japan, eh? I wonder if
they will interconnect one so computer bulletin boards in Japan and
Guam will be a local call from each other? (Forget that I even
suggested the notion!)