(Continuation of Question 9/6)

Background and justification

The markets globalization, the liberalization of communication services, the Internet explosion occurred in the recent years and the analyst forecast in the communication field say that the use of underwater optical cables (Submarine and Marinized Terrestrial Cables), will be particularly heavy in the next four/five years.

Different cable designs have already been proposed, according to customer requirements and to the various sites of installation. At the light of what has already happened, it is reasonable to expect that also in the next future the cable makers will put on the market new underwater cables which are, for example, more suitable in cabling new fibre types.

Then, the topics to be studied are related to construction, jointing, laying and maintenance of MTCs utilized in outside plant, hereinafter reported

Study items

Study items to be considered include:

• to develop new test methods and update the existent ones at the light of new technologies and new design both concerning fibres and cables. This issue should take into consideration the work already done or in progress in IEC SC86 A, with particular attention to Test Methods there developed;
• to revise and update the existing handbook on MTC (for example the Chapter 3 concerning the Survey and Route Planning) and;
• to prepare one or more handbook(s) including Cable Construction, Fibres Splicing, Organizer and Closures, Branching Units, Survey and Route Planning, Characteristics of Cable Ships, Loading and Laying activities, Repair methods, Protections and Test Methods.

Deliverables

Relationship

The following relationship should be foreseen:

• ITU-T SG 15 Question(s) concerning the submarine systems;
• IEC SC 86 A.