Episode 018 - Gil Santaliz - Network Infrastructure Deep Dive Undersea Cables & Landing Stations

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast: Network Infrastructure Deep Dive for Undersea Cables and Landing Stations, I interview Gil Santaliz. You may have wondered about the infrastructure that carries data from one continent to another. Gil Santaliz, CEO of NJFX.net (a carrier neutral cable landing station and colocation facility in New Jersey), is a seasoned telecommunications veteran, entrepreneur and investor with deep knowledge and direct experience working in and around these complex networks, systems and buildings. Gil spends time with me breaking down the evolution and “how, who and why” fundamentals of this critical component to the global internet infrastructure. Show Notes: 1:12 Interview starts 2:32 Gil’s background 4:38 How Gil was able to start 4Connections (spelling?) back in 2001 7:49 Gil’s first experience with the fiber landing stations 10:14 Tata Communications 12:06 How Gil became interested in fiber landing stations 16:11 How many landing stations are there in the coastal united states? 22:35 Latency 24:25 Who funded all this infrastructure? 24:58 OTT 26:28 Has the cost per megabit been dropping? 29:24 If there is a problem with a cable, do we have the technology to be able to pinpoint the specific location of it? 37:08 How to prevent people from accidentally damaging the cables 38:45 How is the government working with private sectors to ensure that these cables are protected? 41:50 How much traffic clears from South America to the United States? 44:02 What was the reason for the placement of the cables? 47:28 How Gil got involved in technology 49:39 What are some of the biggest innovations you seen in your space over the past decade? 56:17 What innovations do you see on the horizon? 58:47 What is some advice you wish you’d been given at the start of your career? 1:01:37 What is some advice you were given that transformed the way you worked in your industry? 1:02:19 Who are you target clients? Who are your existing clients? 1:04:40 Do you guys operate the equivalent puring (spelling?) exchange for those large transcontinental network providers? 1:05:33 What are some common misconceptions people have about your industry? 1:06:52 What do you think is causing this misconception?