Felix Seda Awarded Capacity Media’s Power 100!

^{Nominated by the industry and compiled by Capacity, the 2022 Power 100 profiles the trailblazers, innovators, and leaders driving the global digital infrastructure space. Now in its fourth-year, the list is who is who of the most influential people in our field.}

June 13, 2022

^{CAPACITY EDITORIAL –}Felix Seda is dedicated to bringing young talent into the telecommunication industry by spearheading several millennial-focused initiatives to encourage the education and engagement of young professionals. He created the Millennials in Telecom Reception at PTC in 2020, aimed at bringing young telecom employees together to network and engage with select industry veterans.

Felix sees value in recruiting young professionals, many are digital natives, and the unique perspective they may bring to an industry that is often dominated by veterans. The involvement and development of these fresh, young professionals will do a great deal to propel the industry into the future.

Felix is working closely with the PTC Advisory Council for young professionals to be more involved at industry conferences and secure a seat at the table where pivotal conversations shape the industry’s future. Felix is working to establish a Buy One Get One Free program that will allow nominated individuals from member organizations to attend the conference with free registration.

Aside from helping shape the future of the Telecom industry, Felix has been instrumental in growing the ecosystem at NJFX’s CLS connectivity campus. His involvement in network development helped establish new logos at NJFX such as AT&T, Eastlink, and UPIX.

View the fourth annual Power 100 in the June/July issue here.

About NJFX

NJFX is a Tier 3 Carrier Neutral Cable Landing Station campus. Our colocation ecosystem has expanded to over 35 network operators offering flexibility, reliability, and security. Our Wall, NJ location provides direct access to multiple subsea cable systems giving our carriers diverse connectivity solutions and offers direct interconnection without recurring cross-connect fees.

^{Media Contact:}
^{Emily Newman, Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator}
^{[email protected]}

^{Nominated by the industry and compiled by Capacity, the 2022 Power 100 profiles the trailblazers, innovators, and leaders driving the global digital infrastructure space. Now in its fourth-year, the list is who is who of the most influential people in our field.}

^{June 13, 2022} ^{CAPACITY EDITORIAL –}Felix Seda is dedicated to bringing young talent into the telecommunication industry by spearheading several millennial-focused initiatives to encourage the education and engagement of young professionals. He created the Millennials in Telecom Reception at PTC in 2020, aimed at bringing young telecom employees together to network and engage with select industry veterans. Felix sees value in recruiting young professionals, many are digital natives, and the unique perspective they may bring to an industry that is often dominated by veterans. The involvement and development of these fresh, young professionals will do a great deal to propel the industry into the future. Felix is working closely with the PTC Advisory Council for young professionals to be more involved at industry conferences and secure a seat at the table where pivotal conversations shape the industry’s future. Felix is working to establish a Buy One Get One Free program that will allow nominated individuals from member organizations to attend the conference with free registration. Aside from helping shape the future of the Telecom industry, Felix has been instrumental in growing the ecosystem at NJFX’s CLS connectivity campus. His involvement in network development helped establish new logos at NJFX such as AT&T, Eastlink, and UPIX. View the fourth annual Power 100 in the June/July issue here. ^{About NJFX} ^{NJFX owns and operates a 64,800 square foot purpose-built Tier 3 Cable Landing Station (CLS) Colocation campus in Wall, NJ. This unique campus is the only carrier-neutral CLS colocation campus in the U.S supported by several route-independent carriers that offer direct access to multiple independent subsea cable systems interconnecting North America, Europe, South America and the Caribbean. The facility offers direct access to TGN1, TGN2, and Seabras. The building is the subsea cable landing of HAVFRUE/AEC2 this year as well as the Confluence system in the near future. High and low-density colocation solutions are available with 24/7 support.}

^{Media Contact:}

^{Emily Newman, Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator}

^{[email protected]}

Felix Seda Awarded Capacity Media’s Power 100! Read More »

NYNOG 20

Events / Emily Newman

The NJFX team is attending NYNOG!

We are excited to network and socialize with everyone at this year’s NYNOG 20.

Say hello to Felix Seda, Emily Newman, and Eric Carlson from the NJFX team!

Request A Meeting With Us!

Events

Metro Connect USA ’22

December 13, 2021

Join us at Capacity Metro Connect USA. Where the future of the U.S. digital infra market is shaped. Featured Topic: How are We Meeting the Demands

Meet Us »

PTC ’22

October 23, 2021

Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) – reconnect with members of the ICT industry in Honolulu at PTC’22: January 16-19, 2022. Request A Meeting With Us! Events

Meet Us »

NANOG ’83

October 20, 2021

Join us in Minneapolis for NANOG 83 Incredible Programming, Network Opportunities + More Minneapolis, MN: November 1-3, 2021 Request A Meeting With Us! Events

Meet Us »

Explore More

NYNOG 20 Read More »

Inclusion First Forum Discussion: Can We Plug the Talent Gap?

NJFX Blog / Emily Newman

Inclusion First Forum Discussion: Can We Plug the Talent Gap?

Felix Seda from NJFX, Tara Kristick from Telstra, and Stephanie Gilbert from Sequential Tech come together in a roundtable discussion about the industry’s challenges with recruitment, the retirement cliff, women in the industry, and countering implicit bias in our recruitment process.

May 16, 2022

WASHINGTON DC – As organizations start to return to in-person events like International Telcoms Week, a top-of-mind topic in the sector is the “war for talent” as leaders aim to engage and embrace new talent into the industry and encourage diversity and inclusion.

NJFX was one of many organizations that were represented at the table along with, Telstra, Sequential Tech, the United States Air Force, Exa, and a few other companies. The session featured how other companies in this industry are dealing with the upcoming challenges of the retirement cliff and shared key insights to plug the talent gap.

Tara Kristick, Vice President of Program Management, International Growth and Corporate Social Responsibility at Telstra, started the session by explaining how the Australia-based telecom giant is solving the challenges of the upcoming retirement cliff as many baby boomers reach retirement age.

“Telstra’s organization is having transparent conversations about their plans for retirement. The key is to have open conversations with your employees early in their careers. You should continue to have these conversations throughout their career, so you have a clear understanding of what their retirement plan is,” Tara told ITW attendees.

Tara mentioned how to attract new people into the workforce, specifically, women to level out the playing field. She lists three great key attributes that women look for when applying to companies:

A workforce that offers flexibility
A career that offers growth development
Companies that participate in mentorship programs.

“There are many programs like Step into STEM, where you can become a mentor and get involved with high school students and help guide them to internships. If you start to attract the talent you need to effectively get a new generation into the industry, doing succession planning around the retirement gap and putting mentor programs into place,” Tara added.

Tara brought up great points about raising awareness about opportunities in the subsea industry. While conferences can bring attention to these issues about recruiting and retention, many of the attendees are the same faces from 20 years ago.

Noah Drake, President of the Americas at Telstra said the company is looking into universities and high schools to start mentorships and engage underserved communities in the industry.

Noah discusses a program based in Colorado called Career Connect that offers courses led by volunteered mentors getting them interested in projects, and supporting the applications that they find so valuable; Minecraft, TikTok, etc. The more we can interact with students about the industry the more we can alleviate the foreign concept. Now when students start to attend job fairs, they will recognize company names, and start to create familiarity, he said.

There are many programs that corporations can volunteer for and help educate young students, however, once they become a part of the ecosystem their chance of attending a conference is not very likely.

NJFX General Manager Felix Seda raises some good points about how young professionals do not have the opportunities to attend shows, educate themselves, and get a seat at the table.

“There are many young professionals in our industry who are not granted the opportunity to attend these events. Working with Pacific Telecommunication Council Advisory Board and Marketing to create a Buy One Get One Free Program, offering free registration to professionals thirty-five and under that will attend these shows that normally would not have a chance,” Felix said.

The veterans in the industry do not want to give up their seats at these shows.

“You need to have a seat at the table and be a part of these strategic conversations,” Felix added.

Stephanie Gilbert, Chief Commercial Officer at Sequential Tech proposed creating a volunteer committee to energize telecommunications conferences and diversify talent. The group leads the discussion on recruiting talent and what key skills, education, and experience companies are looking for when hiring. Stephanie asked ITW conference attendees at their session to raise their hands if their degree is related to their profession. Only two people raised their hands.

“You talk to people outside of the industry and everyone thinks you need to have an engineering background,” Felix said. “I do not have an engineering background, I studied Political Science and Public Policy & Law and I am doing anything related to that field, but you use all those skills to your advantage,” Felix said.

“There are many roles that you can explore within the subsea/telecom space such as business development, finance, and marketing,” Felix added. “There are many avenues that you can take, and this industry is so unique, vast, and consistently growing. I think this mindset is part of what we need to change in the recruitment process.”

Addressing ‘Complicit Bias’

One of the attendees raised a question about countering “complicit bias” – when executives turn a blind eye to addressing diversity in the recruitment process.

Stephanie responded, “I just recently went through the better part of last year interviewing and exploring opportunities on what I really want to do next. Through the process, I got exposure to what it was like as a woman of color to go through the recruitment process through large and small firms in this industry. It was really eye-opening to see that process unfold and where the opportunities came from and where they did not. In this industry people just tag each other in and out of jobs. There is no formal process, it is all word of mouth, and you are more likely to get it from that tag.”

NJFX CEO, Gil Santaliz adds, “I started my career at MCI in 1990 and we called it a University because we were all growing up together and it was a young environment. I still have these friendships today in the industry in many different forms and it does seem like a club that you need to be invited to. If you are a person of color or female you need to recruit others to join you and support their growth and mentor them. Once they move on to a new position, keep in touch and think about long-term relationship.”

When thinking about the interview process, we want to think about how we can avoid complicit bias and make sure we are not just checking a box on the interview process or tagging someone in.

“We want to remove any bias and the first step is to be aware that you have bias,” Tara said. “Take a breath before you go into the interview and think of the three common things that can happen. There is attraction bias where a person looks good and sounds good, so they must be good. Second, there is an infinity bias, you went to the same college or grew up in the same town, and we have those similarities so we must be alike. Lastly, you have confirmation bias, assumptions in your head about answers you are looking for and if they are not following that path if you want to say you start to tune them out.”

Stephanie mentioned how recruiters can use blind resumes – removing names or identifiers, such as sports, that might give an indication if candidates are male or female. People from other countries will give them an American nickname on LinkedIn so recruiters would give them callbacks. There is a lot of bias around that, and we need to be thoughtful when going through the process, Stephanie said.

###

About NJFX

Keeping The Lights On

Newsroom / Emily Newman

Keeping The Lights On

From 9/11 to Hurricane Sandy, the US has had a number of wake-up calls when it comes to its infrastructure. NJFX founder and CEO Gil Santaliz tells Melanie Mingas where the next points of failure could occur

May 10, 2022

Capacity Media – Despite the rapid and widespread deployment of advanced connectivity infrastructure, the US has experienced several major outages over the past 20 years that happened just when the country needed its networks the most. The first major lesson in network resilience came on 9/11 when infrastructure damage and traffic surges took out mobile networks.

“9/11 was a wake-up call to how global connectivity actually operates,”

says NJFX founder and CEO Gil Santaliz.

“The number of calls getting through was one in four or one in 10, depending on the time of day. The basic lesson learned was that phones aren’t meant for everyone to use at the same time,” he adds.

Then, in 2012, came Hurricane Sandy. This event took out mobile and fixed connectivity as well as TV and entire data centres – what’s more, it proved that traditional subsea architectures were flawed. Aggregating traffic to route through New York and Miami had created two huge points of failure and the impact was felt as far afield as Europe.

“During Sandy, lower Manhattan lost power for multiple days and many providers lost all their capacity between North America and Europe, while some lost capacity between South America and Europe. Lower Manhattan affected global communications and it was after Sandy that the OTTs started on the path we are on today, and that was to diversify subsea architecture,” he recalls.

Today, New York is “no longer the epicentre” of US telecoms infrastructure and a series of diverse routes make a repeat of 2012 unlikely. However, while the industry has spent the past 20 years experiencing and solving these issues, another has emerged.

Twenty years ago, data centres occupied old corporate units across Manhattan; now they have largely moved to states with swathes of vacant land and tax incentives. “But what we left behind was the internet,” Santaliz says. “In those buildings in New York City, in Miami, where everything comes to one point to intersect.”

He is referring to the middle mile, the everything between the two last miles, where the bulk of network activity is concentrated.

He continues: “Internet connectivity now is dependent on infrastructure built 20, 40, 60 years ago that used to be office buildings or department stores. But once I leave that data centre or home, I have to compute and process that data – and, unfortunately, a lot of that middle mile infrastructure was not purpose-built, it was inherited.”

The solution sounds simple enough: continue to upgrade, but with business models based on collaboration, and focus on the future, rather than the capacity demands of the present. The catch is that such endeavours are expensive.

To help things along, late last year the US introduced a middle mile funding programme, intended to close gaps in underserved areas and create alternative network paths. As part of the US$65 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, it will see $1 billion made available to carriers.

“I think the new standard has to be to invest with a long-term view. Don’t put band-aids on problems you’re having, and don’t add more capacity in buildings that don’t make long-term sense. Start thinking about the end in mind, because a band-aid is only as good as a band-aid. You have to plan for a full solution,” Santaliz says.

“If New York City is still a single point of failure in your network, shame on you – because we have known that for a long time. Build resiliency into your platform,” he adds.

Different roads

For its part, NJFX celebrates seven years in operation in September and has a target to host 60 network operators by the end of 2023, up from 45 by the end of this year.

On the realities of that, Santaliz says: “They have to invest with you, they have to plan how to come to the building. If they all took the same road to bring their fibre to the building, we would have a single point of failure on that road that comes to the facility. We took the time to explai

Gil Santaliz moderates a session at ITW 2022 discussing 'The Never Down Internet Infrastructure' — Starting from the left: Gil Santaliz NJFX, Kevin Briggs CISA, Guy Tal LUMEN, Peter Cohen MICROSOFT

n to each different provider to take different roads.”

These issues are explored later today in the 4pm panel on stage A, The Reality of Never Down Network Infrastructure. Joining Santaliz on the panel is Kevin Briggs, regional protective security adviser at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency(CISA), which NJFX has worked with recently. Briggs is expe ted to share further details on how the agency aims to work with carriers.

“A lot of us in the industry are afraid of regulations, but it’s just the opposite. This group is here to try and provide support and resources and provide a way to collaborate on common issues that all carriers have. How do we keep these networks up and running and never down?”

###

About NJFX:

Trusted Middle Mile

NJFX Blog / Emily Newman

Trusted Middle Mile

NJFX is The Trusted Middle Mile for over 35 independent network carriers on our campus

May 9, 2022

Wall Township, NJ – The work-from-home movement has redefined where and how the Internet is used with video conferencing becoming a staple of the workday. When you combine that with cloud applications and the Internet of Things (IoT), we have become a more connected society with greater quantities of bits and bytes consuming greater amounts of broadband capacity. NJFX’s evolution since its founding in 2015 embodies “The Trusted Middle Mile” with its connections between subsea cables, U.S. terrestrial networks, Internet exchanges, global cloud, and content delivery network operators. The Tier 3 purpose-built, subsea cable landing station now has 4 subsea cables operational and helping to connect over 30 independent network operators.

Today Multinational Banks, Global Cloud Operators, Tier1 Global ISP’s, US Carriers, and a variety of other networks use this NJFX Trusted Middle Mile infrastructure. AT&T just announced its addition of a network Point-of-Presence at NJFX, enhancing connectivity across the Atlantic Ocean and to Latin America.

Getting these independent network operators to install their Point of Presence using a variety of independent rights of ways takes years. Some come by land and others by sea, the ultimate network route diversity. Routes from Denmark, Norway, Ireland, the UK, Brazil, and the Caribbean use subsea access for their routes to NJFX. Zayo, ATT, Lumen, Lightpath, Crown Castle, UFD, Windstream, Aurelion, Epsilon, Zenfi, and Verizon designed their own independent unique terrestrial underground and aerial routes to insure resilience to our community of carriers.

Our NJFX facility has been designed and built with a resilience in mind security, physical safety, and redundant power supplies in mind. NJFX’s team is trained, coordinates with DHS/CISA for resources/information flow and supports customers 24x7x365 to troubleshoot network issues.

Today, NJFX’s role in supporting telecommunications has become more important than ever as more organizations – and consumers – connect with cloud-based applications, stream video and devote more activity online – all of which demand a purpose-built Middle Mile Infrastructure. Computing is increasingly happening in more remote portions of the world and depends upon the information to flow freely. Getting access to that data is all about the network, the middle mile which connects your home with the rest of the online world.

###

About NJFX:

AT&T Launches Strategic Network Point-of-Presence at NJFX Cable Landing Station

Newsroom / Emily Newman

AT&T Launches Strategic Network Point-of-Presence at NJFX Cable Landing Station

AT&T Launches Strategic Network Point-of-Presence in Wall, NJ

May 5, 2022

WALL TOWNSHIP – AT&T* recently added a network Point-of-Presence (PoP) within the NJFX Cable Landing Station (CLS) colocation campus located in Wall, NJ. This strategic deployment provides access to AT&T’s domestic and global network and helps increase network efficiency for customers.

We will offer services from our Ethernet and transport portfolio including AT&T Virtual Private Network, Ethernet Private Line Service, OPT-E-WAN, and AT&T Dedicated Internet/Managed Internet Service for speeds up to 100G.

The new PoP will provide access for customers to directly interconnect with subsea capacity services across the Atlantic to Europe and Latin America. International-based customers can transport data to AT&T’s PoP and extend their reach to major U.S. metro markets via their robust U.S. backbone system. Customers can also interexchange traffic across the multiple subsea cable systems available at NJFX, including TGN1, TGN2, and Seabras.

“We are continually looking for ways to strategically expand our offerings to customers,” said Michael DeChiara, Associate Vice President, AT&T Wholesale Solutions. “Through our new Point-of-Presence at NJFX, we have added another critical location to address customer’s growing requirements for access to our advanced and powerful global network, including our extensive fiber footprint in the U.S., which is now available coast-to-coast for wholesale customers.”

“We are pleased that AT&T has chosen to establish a Point-of-Presence at our CLS colocation campus, states Gil Santaliz, CEO of NJFX. “It has always been our vision to develop NJFX to become North America’s preeminent international hub for subsea communications, interconnecting many international carriers across three continents with multiple secure and reliable backhaul and U.S. termination options. World-class communications providers like AT&T recognize that NJFX provides a nexus for collaboration where they can build out new and reinforce existing networks with diverse routes while extending their global reach.”

*About AT&T

We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and neighbors connect in meaningful ways every day. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G wireless and multi-gig internet offerings today, we @ATT innovate to improve lives. For more information about AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), please visit us at about.att.com. Investors can learn more at investors.att.com.

###

About NJFX:

For NJFX media inquiries, please contact: emily@njfx.net

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AT&T Launches Strategic Network Point-of-Presence at NJFX Cable Landing Station Read More »

NANOG 85

Events / Emily Newman

Join us in Montreal, Quebec for NANOG 85!

Schedule a time to chat with the NJFX’s team, Felix Seda and Emily Newman.

See you soon!

Request A Meeting With Us!

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LEGACY INFRASTRUCTURE BYPASS

NJFX Blog / Emily Newman

Legacy Infrastructure Bypass

New Federal Grants Aim to Bolster Telecom’s ‘Middle Mile’

July 22, 2022

Wall Township, NJ – While most people associate take for granted how much the Internet has become embedded in modern life, the team at NJFX realizes the importance of the need for an updated telecommunications infrastructure and the vulnerabilities of legacy networks. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) has launched a new grant program to encourage the development to improve the resiliency of broadband networks and improve access.

Working from home, streaming videos/gaming, and just about any aspect of commerce touches upon the Internet. The Internet of Things adds additional points of contact to telecommunications networks beyond computers, phones, and tablets. COVID-19 has considerably changed our lives and made the Internet a bigger part of them. We are shaping the Internet without being fully aware of the crucial infrastructure that impacts today and beyond.

Crises Drove Evolution of Data Centers

COVID-19 has helped accelerate a push to cloud computing and has revealed the need to improve the “middle mile” – the points of national and regional telecommunications networks that link-local networks. The global pandemic sent “information economy workers” home in 2020, changing how businesses will manage employees virtually. COVID-19 changed our understanding of working remotely along with an increasing expansion of the Internet while IoT still maturing. Legacy infrastructure, in lower Manhattan, is now supporting critical Internet traffic between ISPs in favor of cable companies and our U.S. wireless network operators. These legacy facilities are owned by real estate landlords who are unaware of how critical their role is in our society.

COVID-19, however, was not the only one to drive changes in telecommunications.

Back in the late 90’s, as the Internet was starting to become a force in commerce, most data centers were housed in brick-and-mortar office spaces with equipment fully accessible to anyone working on-site. After the 9/11 attacks, the telecommunication industry realized data centers cannot be sitting in office buildings without security measures. New York City and the data flowing through it could not be the single point of failure for the business community. This began the journey of distribution and storage for shared data center space applications for computing. Equinix and a few other industry veterans started to create shared data centers that helped economically and diversified creating an environment with remote telecommunications infrastructure separated from employment buildings. The era of shared data centers shaped our country’s future of how we use the internet for the next ten years.

Even those changes could not overcome mother nature. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy slammed the East Coast affecting thousands of businesses and residents, cutting off electricity throughout the Northeast for days, leaving Lower Manhattan submerged during the height of the storm. The storm, which has been described as a once-in-a-700-year event, proved how dependent our global economy is on the critical infrastructure that is placed in lower Manhattan and Northern Jersey. The tragic events, since 2000, created a realization to diversify away from legacy points with subsea cables connecting Europe and the Americas.

A few years later, we started NJFX in Wall, N.J. NJFX serves over thirty carriers interconnecting Europe, North America, South America, and the Caribbean through the four subsea cables that are on campus. Today, Virginia Beach Cable Landing Station is working to expand the carrier community over subsea cables. Technology companies, such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon, are also developing new subsea projects. Other landing sites and newer, higher capacity undersea fiber is helping to link global telecommunications networks, while building some resiliency to that “middle mile.”

Federal Grants to Bolster Middle Mile Infrastructure

The United States Government is aware of critical legacy infrastructure and needs diversification to build additional redundancy in the “middle mile.” Both ends of the middle mile are how users get to their applications through WAN services, private line networks, and cloud networks to shuttle information between destinations. The Middle Mile is becoming a critical part of how we connect with our remote workers, essential employees, and our families through various applications, data, and basic everyday functions that the internet provides.

The NTIA, which oversees the grants under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is offering grants to technology companies and electric and telecommunications utilities. The grant program prioritizes projects that leverage existing infrastructure, enable connection of unserved communities, encourage the development of carrier-neutral interconnection facilities, and improve redundancy/resilience while reducing regulatory and permitting barriers.

“It is likely that NTIA’s final rules will permit funds awarded under this program to be used for a host of projects, including laying fiber to expand and extend existing networks, leasing dark fiber, connecting data centers, building wireless microwave backhaul infrastructure, and other similar projects,” the administration said.

To learn more about the Middle Mile Grant, click here.

###

About NJFX:

NJFX Hires Emily Newman

NJFX Blog / Emily Newman

NJFX Hires Emily Newman

April 1, 2022

Wall Township, NJ – NJFX announces Emily Newman as our in-house Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator. Previously, she worked with various clients on projects that span from digital marketing, graphic design, and web development.

We are thrilled to have Ms. Newman’s fresh perspective and her creative approach to connecting with our community of network operators. We took our time in finding the right fit for someone to join our team with a combination of enthusiasm, professionalism, and polish to represent our brand at NJFX said Gil Santaliz, CEO of NJFX.

The entire team at NJFX is excited to accompany Emily Newman on the journey to learn the dynamic subsea industry and build a powerful foundation for her and other young women in the infrastructure space. It was only 7 years ago when I transitioned from the Financial Services industry to NJFX and I see the passion Emily brings to our team and desire to be part of our industry, shared Felix Seda our GM. Felix has been a leader in our industry for Diversity and Inclusion and getting the next generation ready for new leadership roles recognized by his participation with PTC and the Suboptic in these efforts.

Ms. Newman graduated from Wagner College in Staten Island with a degree in Arts Administration and Marketing. She credits her studies with sparking her interest in digital media and marketing which led her to NJFX.

“I am always looking for new challenges to educate myself on topics I am not familiar with,” Ms. Newman talks about how the telecommunication industry is a new and exciting venture she looks forward to exploring.

The move from web development to public relations has proven to be exciting for Ms. Newman. “In web development, it is normally me working alone with little communication. However, in the subsea industry, there is a huge emphasis on networking, continuous partnerships, and opportunities to learn from industry leaders.”

“As a young woman, I find this to be a massive motivator than a challenge to learn quickly from others and stand out as a leader in a male dominated field,” Ms. Newman explains how being a woman often makes her a minority in many of these conferences and at the office.

Ms. Newman has traveled with NJFX to Capacity LATAM and met many prominent women in the telecom industry and will use future opportunities to develop professional and personal relationships.

Say hello to Emily Newman at ITW, May 9 – 12, in Washington, DC.

###

About NJFX:

Insights Shared by Google, Sparkle, Lumen

NJFX Blog / Emily Newman

Insights Shared by Google, Sparkle, & Lumen

Dive into this year’s Capacity LATAM session moderated by Gil Santaliz exploring new ventures in subsea cable systems

March 15, 2022

Capacity LATAM 2022 Conference Fireside Chat

From left to right:
Gabriel Holgado, Cristian Ramos, Gil Santaliz, Federico Porri

Capacity LATAM 2022 Conference was live in Miami with industry leaders networking and connecting in person for the first time in over two years due to the pandemic. The future of exploring transformative subsea projects was the main topic of a discussion moderated by Gil Santaliz, CEO of NJFX.

Subsea Keynote Panelists include:

Gil Santaliz, CEO | NJFX
Cristian Ramos, Network Development Manager | Google
Gabriel Holgado, Vice President of Sales | Lumen Technologies
Federico Porri, CTO | TI Sparkle

Each panelist shared their challenges, benefits, and advice going forward within the industry. NJFX CEO Gil Santaliz highlighted key issues the subsea industry faces and how this diverse panel overcomes new challenges.

Capacity LATAM, which had 700 attendees from 40 nations, is made up of a diverse set of companies that cannot exist without each other. In the telecommunication industry, there are many forms of partnerships, projects, markets, and joint ventures.

“This industry relies on long-term partnerships. It’s important to have a commitment and trust on both sides. Both sides are taking a calculated risk and keeping open communication is key,” Federico Porri, Chief Technology Officer of TI Sparkle, said. “Being able to gain trust and maintain trust and long-term partnerships is super important to us. If those variables are there, we look to accommodate partnerships.”

Traditionally, consortium subsea cables to Latin America had many partners. In the last five years, the groups have reduced in size and some cables have been announced with just one owner. Firmina and Curie, both of which are owned by Google are examples of this new paradigm. The Firmina cable is going to be the biggest high-count cable in the U.S. and South America.

“It is a fascinating project. It is potentially equivalent to all the region’s previous subsea capacity combined,” Santaliz added.

“One of the biggest decisions we had to make was landing it in South Carolina. The other big challenges the subsea industry is going to start facing is how to start to diversify landing points and build more reliable anchorages,” Cristian Ramos, Network Development Manager of Google said.

Cristian Ramos added, “Another big decision was putting a 18KV PFE for a very long distance cable. That is the first cable that will have the technology built in and it’s how we can minimize the time to build. This cable will link Argentina to the U.S., but it will have connections to Uruguay, Las Toninas, and Praia Grande.”

When asked about whether Firmina is going to change the fiberoptic landscape of Latin America, Gabriel Holdago, vice president of sales at Lumen, replied, “It is a significant technological breakthrough for the region and the economy, the contribution having these countries being connected and getting traffic connectivity and content. The contributions are huge – a lot of opportunities and for the new generations there is a lot of internships and innovation.”

“There is a project called Confluence that is being built and it connects Boca Raton to Jacksonville, Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach, and to NJFX in Wall, New Jersey. It’s going to solve a U.S. issue, we have already seen a lot of the banks talking about critical rings in the U.S.,” Santaliz said.

Santaliz asked, “Are there going to be any more of these projects we haven’t seen before that actually land in LATAM to be commensurate with all the new infrastructure being built?”

“There are a number of cables in the Caribbean area that are going to be the end of life in a few years and of course, Sparkle will be a part of all new development projects,” Federico Porri said. “When you see the development of the subsea system in the region the next step is how to get additional redundancy. You have the ability to add terrestrial over your subsea and over time create small rings. What I foresee is to continually develop the terrestrial and subsea infrastructure in order to not only get redundancy at those stations.” Porri added that the objective is to add capacity in smaller cities as an additional next step.

At the end of the conference, Holdago updated the conference attendees about Lumen’s $2.7 billion sales of its Latin American business to Stonepeak. The agreement includes reciprocal reselling and network arrangements to enhance each other’s fiber footprints, data centers, and network assets.

Holgado adds, “All the subsea systems, terrestrial cables, all the networks, cable station, the data center will be a part of this new company. We will announce a new company in Latin America and a new brand running the LATAM operation. It is a strategic partnership between Lumen and the NewCo in order to rely on the services that we both require on both regions and vice versa.“

At the close of the panel, Santaliz asked the audience about their preferences regarding where to hold next year. COVID restrictions prompted organizers to host it in Miami, but attendees seemed most enthused about bringing it back to Brazil.

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^{Nominated by the industry and compiled by Capacity, the 2022 Power 100 profiles the trailblazers, innovators, and leaders driving the global digital infrastructure space. Now in its fourth-year, the list is who is who of the most influential people in our field.}

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