GlobeNet has announced that it has started work on the replacement of part of its fibre-optic subsea cable which will provide more than 30 times the current capacity between Bermuda and the US when it is completed in the first quarter of next year.The international wholesale submarine capacity provider, and wholly-owned subsidiary of Oi, and TE SubCom, a pioneer in undersea communications technology, said that construction for the replacement of segment five of the high performance system.The cable presently carries most of the Island’s overseas telephone calls and Internet traffic and is estimated to be worth $1.1 billion.The new segment will be approximately 1,350 kilometres in length and is designed to support 150 wavelengths per fibre-pair at 100 Gigabits per second per wavelength, giving the two-fiber-pair system a total design capacity of 30 Terabits per second. It has the largest cross-sectional capacity per fibre pair of any system built or contracted to date.Originally installed by TE SubCom in 1997, GlobeNet’s Segment 5 lands in St David’s and Tuckerton in New Jersey.The replacement project includes the supply of new TE SubCom submarine line terminating equipment, which allows transmission of multiple high-quality, high-bandwidth optical signals over ultra-long distances. To prepare for the upgrade, a marine route survey was completed in November 2011.“The demand for Internet and video services is growing at an exponential rate, especially in emerging markets such as South America,” said Erick Contag, chief operating officer of GlobeNet. “To ensure the highest level of network performance for our carrier customers, GlobeNet continuously invests in network upgrades, such as this Segment 5 replacement.“GlobeNet’s lowest latency, reliable, and highly secure network is designed to support bandwidth-intensive services including streaming media, high definition video, online gaming and social media applications. Each segment of the system is critical and we look forward to working with TE SubCom to ensure segment five is fully optimised for our customers’ growing needs.”GlobeNet’s submarine cable network spans 22,000 kilometres and connects Bermuda, Brazil, the US and Venezuela, with further extensions to Colombia.“This is another win for TE SubCom’s latest ultra-high capacity designs, using our industry-leading 40G and 100G technologies,” said David Robles, sales director, Americas region, TE SubCom. “Upon successful completion, the segment five replacement will serve as a needed enhancement for the entire GlobeNet system and will support growing capacity demands between North and South America well into the future.”