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Alcatel Submarine Networks
French telecommunications company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) is a French company and one of the three world leaders in the manufacture and installation of submarine cables. It was a subsidiary of Alcatel, then Alcatel-Lucent, until it was acquired by the Finnish group Nokia in 2016. It was owned by Nokia France from 2016 to 2024. The French state acquired 80% of the company's capital in November 2024.[1]
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Alcatel Submarine Networks designs, manufactures, lays and maintains telecommunications submarine cables and related equipment, using its own vessels to carry optical fibre around the globe. Laying telecommunications submarine cables is a strategic industry.[2][3] ASN, Subcom and NEC dominate this global market, with 99% of Internet traffic passing through these cables, 80% of which transits through the United States, whatever its destination.[4] In 2018, ASN's market share (30%) was ahead of Japanese competitor NEC (23%) and American Subcom (20%).[5]
As of 2024[update], ASN has 2,000 employees, including 1,370 in France. The company has several sites in France, the United Kingdom and Norway. Alcatel Submarine Networks has a fleet of seven cable-laying vessels and is the world No. 1 in the sector.[1]
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History
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In 1858, the Submarine Telegraph Company, founded by Thomas Crampton, was created and became an international telegraph network operator. On 30 January 1860, the Submarine Telegraph Company laid the first telegraph cable between Jersey and France.[6] In 1925, the Compagnie Générale d'Électricité absorbed the Compagnie Générale des Cables de Lyon.
In 1991, Compagnie Générale d'Électricité changed its name to Alcatel-Alsthom. Compagnie Générale des Câbles de Lyon became Alcatel Câble and acquired AEG Kabel.
In 1993, Alcatel Cable acquired the British company STC Submarine Systems (formerly the Submarine Telegraph Company) and its 34,000 m2 factory at Enderby's Wharf on the Greenwich Peninsula on the banks of the Thames, where submarine cables had been made since 1857.[7] The company had latterly been a division of Northern Telecom Europe (which later became Nortel). Alcatel Cable became the world's leading cable manufacturer, with around 40% of the global market for fibre-optic submarine telecommunications cables. Production capacity would reach 30,000 km of optical cable per year.[8]
In June 1994, Alcatel merged its submarine telecommunications activities into a new company called Alcatel Submarine Systems. This subsidiary was 51% owned by Alcatel Câble (which became Nexans) and 49% by Alcatel-CIT.[9] On 9 October 2000, Alcatel Cable became Nexans. Alcatel retained Alcatel Submarine Networks and 20% of Nexans (this stake in Nexans was resold in 2005).[10]
Starting in 2000, Alcatel Submarine Networks and Louis Dreyfus Armatuers (LDA) had a partnership called ALDA Marine. This joint venture was to build, own and operate a fleet of cable ships to provide subsea telecommunication cable systems and marine operations in the global market. In 2003, Alcatel was part of the consortium to build the Sudan to South Africa undersea cable link called Eastern Africa Submarine System (EASSy).[11]
In 2003, Heimdal repaired optical fiber in the Pacific Ocean, on the route between Japan and the United States, at a record-breaking depth of almost 9,400 km.[12]
On 1 December 2006, Alcatel acquired Lucent Technologies to form Alcatel-Lucent, and Alcatel Submarine Networks became Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks.
On 8 April 2009, the following 12 companies signed an agreement for the construction and maintenance of the West Africa Cable System, a cable linking South Africa to the United Kingdom via the Atlantic Ocean: Vodacom, Togo Telecom, Telkom SA, Telecom Namibia, Tata Communications/Neotel, Portugal Telecom/Cabo Verde Telecom, Office congolais des postes et télécommunications, Groupe MTN, Congo Telecom, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Broadband Infraco and Angola Câbles. The supply contract was signed the same day between the consortium members and Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks.[13]
In 2011, Alcatel Submarine Networks continued its global presence on the oceans through its cable ships: the CS Ile de Sein contributed to the recovery of the data recorder from Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic. This proved that the company has the versatility to use the vessel to recover an object from the seabed for telecommunications or emergency assistance purposes. An ROV from Phoenix International Inc also helped the ship.[14]
On 15 July 2010, Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks began laying the WACS cable, with the departure from Île de Bréhat from the cable factory in Calais, loaded with nearly 6,000 km of submarine cable. The cable was laid by Île de Bréhat and its sister ship Île de Sein. The installation officially ended on 19 April 2011 with the laying of the cable in Yzerfontein, after less than 10 months at sea.[15] The cable became operational on 11 May 2012 when it was illuminated in South Africa.[16]
In 2014, Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks acquired the Norwegian company Optoplan, a division of the French oil group CGG.[17]
In 2015, Alcatel-Lucent renewed their partnership with Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA). Alcatel-Lucent took ownership of all seven ships in the fleet, which would be operated by LDA.[18]
On 15 April 2015, Alcatel-Lucent announced its acquisition by Finnish telecoms giant Nokia. Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks would become part of Nokia's Submarine Network Solutions division in France, but was intended to remain independent.[19][20]
In 2017, Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks reverted to its original name, Alcatel Submarine Networks.[21]
At the end of October 2018, Nokia and French company Ekinops confirmed that they had been in discussions for several months about a possible takeover of Alcatel Submarine Networks, Nokia's submarine cable business, but discussions ended in April 2019. The French government was still looking for a round of financing that could include Orange Marine, in order to protect its strategic interests.[22][23]
Nokia and ASN added another cable ship to the fleet, CS Ile d'Ouessant.[24] This vessel was purchased in 2019 and had been built in 2011 as the CS Toisa Warrior.[25] In 2021, Nokia and ASN added two more cable ships to the fleet, CS Ile d'Yeu and CS Ile de Molène.[26]
Around 2020, Alcatel Submarine Networks had a 33% share of the global market and had laid 600,000 kilometers of cables.[27]
By 1 January 2022, ASN had laid more than 700,000 km of cable on the seabed, maintained more than 300,000 km of cable and commissioned more than 200 fibre optic systems.[28]
On 27 June 2024, the French government announced that it had reached an agreement with Nokia to buy 80% of ASN's shares through the Agence des participations de l'État (APE). This decision meant that the 'strategic company' is once again controlled by a French shareholder, after the Finnish group had been considering the company's future for two years. The deal is valued at €100 million, drawn from the government's financial holdings special allocation account, whereas the total value of the company (including cash and debt) is €350 million. Nokia retains 20% of the capital, but the APE will be able to buy back this share, under conditions that have not been communicated.[1][29][30]
The company holds around a third of this global market, alongside TE SubCom of the US and NEC of Japan. Its optical fibre now covers more than 800,000 kilometres of the Earth, almost twenty times its circumference. ASN operates in a growing market, with growth expected to be close to 10% a year until at least 2032, according to Global Market Insights. The French government completed its takeover of ASN by signing a contract to acquire 80% of the capital on 5 November 2024 in Calais, at the company's historic plant.[30][31][32][33]
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Fleet
In 2023, ASN had seven vessels.[34] The Île de Bréhat, Île de Batz, Île de Sein, Île d'Aix and Île d'Yeu are used to lay submarine cables, while the Île d'Ouessant and Île de Molène are used for cable maintenance.[35][36]
In 2011, ASN purchased the CS Gulmar Badaro, renaming it CS Ile d'Aix, to further expand its operations. This vessel was built in 1992 and was equipped for cable repair and laying.[37][38]
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