wiredinUSA November 2011

Superconductor joint venture

On October 18 th , The Hindustan Times was anticipating that a cabinet meeting will approve an ambitious project to set up a national optical fiber network (NOFN) to connect 200,000 villages in 5,000 blocks across the country to provide high speed broadband in rural areas. The government is to constitute a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to execute the project. It will work closely with public sector units such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Railtel, and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, and is likely to utilize the existing optical fiber networks. The SPV will also lay additional fiber network. “This is to ensure that there is no duplication of fiber network,” a govern- ment official said. The exercise will help generate additional revenue for BSNL. A subsidy will be provided from the Univer- sal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) raised through a 5% levy imposed on telecom operators’ revenues. This is utilized for sup- porting telecom services in rural areas. The broadband network will help connect all panchayats or elected councils of village elders across the country. This will help dovetail panchayats with the larger national e-governance initiative. Only 30,000 of about 250,000 panchayats across the country have broadband connectivity to date. Rural optic fiber network set for approval

LS Cable & System and Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) announced recently that the two companies, together with the Korea Electro- technology Research Institute and Korea Electric Power Research Institute, are embarking on extensive R&D program to develop smart grid technologies. The project to implement a superconducting power transmission network was initiated by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and will last until 2016. This program aims to develop Korea into a leader of the global superconducting electric devices market. It was initiated in recognition of the necessity to develop large-capacity, high-efficiency and eco-friendly power transmission technologies using superconductor technology and apply them to actual transmission systems. Superconductor cable, which has practically zero electrical resistance, can send a large amount of electricity over a long distance without loss. LS Cable & System was the first in Korea to succeed in developing this type of cable. In addi- tion, LS Cable & System was selected as a cable supplier for the Tres Amigas project where superconductor cable is used as a basis for integrating three large and expansive yet disparate power networks in the US, one serving the eastern areas, another serving the western areas and another serving areas in Texas.

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wiredInUSA - November 2011