Cable landing point
Encyclopedia
A cable landing point is the location where a submarine or other underwater cable makes landfall. The term is most often used for the landfall points of submarine telecommunications cables
and submarine power cable
s. The landing will either be direct (in the case of a point-to-point cable system) or via a branch from a main cable using a submarine branching unit
. The branch can be many kilometres long.
Cable landing points are usually carefully chosen to be in areas:
Such locations are rare, and will usually be the shared landfall point for several cable systems. Examples are:
Frequently, there will be a nearby cable landing station, or cable termination station, which may well be shared between multiple cable systems, but in some cases, the cable may be laid many miles inland before reaching its termination point.
A cable landing station may or may not be required, depending on whether, for example, the submarine cable requires power to power submarine repeaters or amplifiers. The voltages applied to the cables can be high—3,000 to 4,000 volts for a typical trans-Atlantic telecommunications cable system, and 1,000 volts for a cross-channel telecommunications cable system. Submarine power cables can operate at many kilovolts: for example, the Fenno-Skan
power cable operates at 400 kV DC
.
A cable termination station is the point at which the submarine cable connects into the land-based infrastructure or network. A cable termination station may be the same facility as the cable landing station, or may be many miles away. The termination station will usually be the point where high-capacity 'backhaul' land-based network connects to areas of high demand, which are usually centres of high population density, rather than the usually remote locations of cable landing points/landing stations/termination stations. A good example of this is the Endeavour cable system which connects Australia to Hawaii. The cable landing point in Sydney is Tamarama Beach
, some distance from the cable termination station in Paddington
.
For power cables the term cable termination station is not strictly determined. It is either the point where the underwater cable ends and where the overhead powerline starts or if the whole line is implemented as cable, the first cable sleeve on the land. However one can also say that the substation or HVDC static inverter plant, where the connection to the grid is made describe as cable termination station. However, this station can be far away from the coast.
Submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....
and submarine power cable
Submarine power cable
Submarine power cables are major transmission cables for carrying electric power below the surface of the water. These are called "submarine" because they usually carry electric power beneath salt water but it is also possible to use submarine power cables beneath fresh water...
s. The landing will either be direct (in the case of a point-to-point cable system) or via a branch from a main cable using a submarine branching unit
Submarine Branching Unit
A submarine branching unit is a piece of equipment used in submarine telecommunications cable systems to allow the cable to split to serve more than one destination...
. The branch can be many kilometres long.
- that have little marine traffic to minimise the risk of cables being damaged by ship anchors and trawler operations;
- with gently sloping, sandy or silty sea-floors so that the cable can be buried to minimise the chance of damage;
- without strong currents that would uncover buried cables and potentially move cables.
Such locations are rare, and will usually be the shared landfall point for several cable systems. Examples are:
- Widemouth BayWidemouth BayWidemouth Bay is a bay and beach on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, England, UK, approximately 3 miles south of Bude. This stretch of coast is steeped in the smuggling history of times before, and not far south of Widemouth Bay can be found many little inlets and coves.-Activities:The beach is...
, near BudeBudeBude is a small seaside resort town in North Cornwall, England, at the mouth of the River Neet . It lies just south of Flexbury, north of Widemouth Bay and west of Stratton and is located along the A3073 road off the A39. Bude is twinned with Ergué-Gabéric in Brittany, France...
in CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where several submarine telecommunications cables come ashore:- Apollo (North)Apollo (submarine communications cable)Apollo is an optical submarine communications cable system crossing the Atlantic Ocean, owned by Apollo Submarine Cable System Ltd...
- TAT-8TAT-8TAT-8 was the 8th transatlantic telecommunications cable,initially carrying 40,000 telephone circuits between USA, England and France. It was constructed in 1988 by a consortium of companies led by AT&T, France Telecom, and British Telecom...
- TAT-14TAT-14TAT-14 is the 14th consortia transatlantic telecommunications cable system. In operation from 2001, it utilises wavelength division multiplexing. The cable system is built from multiple pairs of fibres—one fibre in each pair is used for data carried in one direction and the other in the opposite...
- Yellow (AC2)AC-2 (cable system)Yellow / AC-2 is a submarine telecommunications cable system linking the USA and the UK. The different owners give this cable system different names, so it is known as both Yellow and AC-2...
- Apollo (North)
- BlaabjergBlaabjergUntil January 1, 2007, Blaabjerg was a municipality in Ribe County on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 254 km², and had a total population of 6,509 . Its latest mayor was Preben Olesen...
, DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, where the following cables come ashore:- CANTAT-3CANTAT-3CANTAT-3 is the third Canadian transatlantic telecommunications cable, in operation from 1994, initially carrying 3 x 2.5 Gbit/s between Canada and Europe...
- DANICE
- ODINODIN (cable system)ODIN was a submarine telecommunications cable system linking the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.It was 1040 km in length and used Synchronous Digital Hierarchy technology and had two 2.5Gbit/s lines and can simultaneously carry 30,000 telephone calls...
- TAT-14TAT-14TAT-14 is the 14th consortia transatlantic telecommunications cable system. In operation from 2001, it utilises wavelength division multiplexing. The cable system is built from multiple pairs of fibres—one fibre in each pair is used for data carried in one direction and the other in the opposite...
- UK-Denmark 4
- CANTAT-3
- ChangiChangiChangi is an area at the eastern end of Singapore. It is now the site of Singapore Changi Airport/Changi Air Base, Changi Naval Base and is also home to Changi Prison, site of the former Japanese Prisoner of War Camp during World War II which held Allied prisoners captured in Singapore and Malaysia...
, SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, where the following cables come ashore:- APCNAPCN (cable system)APCN or Asia-Pacific Cable Network is a submarine telecommunications cable system linking nine Asian countries.It has landing points in:*Petchaburi, Thailand*Mersing, Malaysia*Changi, Singapore*Ancol, Indonesia*Lantau, Hong Kong...
- ASEANASEAN (cable system)The ASEAN cable system was a submarine telecommunications cable system linking Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. It was completed in September 1983, but has since been decommissioned.-Construction:...
- C2C
- TIISCSTIISCS (cable system)TIISCS , also known as TIC is a submarine telecommunications cable linking India and Singapore.It has landing points in Chennai, India and Changi, Singapore....
- TISTIS (cable system)TIS is a submarine telecommunications cable system in the South China Sea linking Thailand, Singapore, and IndonesiaIt has landing points in:#Songkhla, Songkhla Province, Thailand#Changi, Singapore...
- APCN
Frequently, there will be a nearby cable landing station, or cable termination station, which may well be shared between multiple cable systems, but in some cases, the cable may be laid many miles inland before reaching its termination point.
A cable landing station may or may not be required, depending on whether, for example, the submarine cable requires power to power submarine repeaters or amplifiers. The voltages applied to the cables can be high—3,000 to 4,000 volts for a typical trans-Atlantic telecommunications cable system, and 1,000 volts for a cross-channel telecommunications cable system. Submarine power cables can operate at many kilovolts: for example, the Fenno-Skan
Fenno-Skan
Fenno–Skan is the designation of the high voltage direct current transmission between Dannebo in Sweden and Rauma in Finland.-History:Fenno–Skan was inaugurated in 1989. Taken into commercial operation in November 1989, Fenno–Skan was the longest submarine power cable in the world...
power cable operates at 400 kV DC
High-voltage direct current
A high-voltage, direct current electric power transmission system uses direct current for the bulk transmission of electrical power, in contrast with the more common alternating current systems. For long-distance transmission, HVDC systems may be less expensive and suffer lower electrical losses...
.
A cable termination station is the point at which the submarine cable connects into the land-based infrastructure or network. A cable termination station may be the same facility as the cable landing station, or may be many miles away. The termination station will usually be the point where high-capacity 'backhaul' land-based network connects to areas of high demand, which are usually centres of high population density, rather than the usually remote locations of cable landing points/landing stations/termination stations. A good example of this is the Endeavour cable system which connects Australia to Hawaii. The cable landing point in Sydney is Tamarama Beach
Tamarama, New South Wales
Tamarama is a beachside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tamarama is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council...
, some distance from the cable termination station in Paddington
Paddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
.
For power cables the term cable termination station is not strictly determined. It is either the point where the underwater cable ends and where the overhead powerline starts or if the whole line is implemented as cable, the first cable sleeve on the land. However one can also say that the substation or HVDC static inverter plant, where the connection to the grid is made describe as cable termination station. However, this station can be far away from the coast.