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Company Profile

Terabit Consulting was incorporated in 2000 to provide specialized analysis and forecasts of international ICT (information and communications technology) markets, with particular attention to international bandwidth infrastructure such as submarine cables and terrestrial fiber optic networks. The company is devoted to providing thorough, in-depth, and complete analysis while continuing to innovate and constantly offer new perspectives on the industry.

Terabit’s primary clients include international financial institutions, development agencies, government ministries, telecom carriers, project developers, suppliers, financiers, law offices, and industry associations, as well as other members of the international telecommunications infrastructure community.

Terabit’s recent accomplishments have included two groundbreaking studies:

1. the Traffic and Market Analysis for the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy), which it delivered on behalf of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 2004-2008; and
2. the unprecedented International Telecommunications Infrastructure Analysis, commissioned by a government client, which covered 165 countries around the world and comprised interviews and site visits on six continents.  This report, which weighs in at more than 1,000 pages, examines the world’s entire international telecommunications infrastructure: submarine cables, terrestrial fiber optic networks, satellite earth stations, and microwave links.  It also includes a thorough analysis of each country’s fixed, mobile, and Internet markets; regulatory environment; governmental ICT policy; and overall economic and political environment. 

In recent months Terabit has also delivered work on several important projects in all regions of the globe, including:

1. the Traffic and Market Analysis for the East African Backhaul System (EABs), delivered to the International Finance Corporation and the EASSy consortium;
2. the Traffic and Market Analysis for the Eastern Caribbean Submarine Cable (ECSC), a project undertaken for the World Bank Group and the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority;
3. the Traffic and Market Analysis for the Central African Backbone (CAB) and Trans-African Backbone (TAB), another project commissioned by the World Bank Group;
4. the Traffic and Market Analysis for the Central African Backbone-II (CAB-II) network, a follow-on project commissioned by the World Bank Group;
5. an analysis of the telecommunications market and forecasted traffic flows in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which Terabit delivered to a private client; and
6. the Traffic and Market Analysis for an international network serving Madagascar, on behalf of a private investor;
7. the Traffic and Market Analysis for an international network serving the Seychelles, on behalf of the Seychellois government;
8. the Traffic and Market Analysis for a proposed submarine cable system in West Africa on behalf of Maroc Telecom;
9. an analysis of telecommunications and Internet markets in Latin America on behalf of a regional investor.

Terabit’s flagship published product, The Undersea Cable Report, is the result of year-round research, interviews, and company visits performed by Terabit’s analysts.  [By way of example, in 2009 Terabit’s analysts met on-site with operators, financial institutions, government agencies, and suppliers in more than 35 countries.]

The Undersea Cable Report is known throughout the industry as the leading publication covering the undersea communications markets.  The current edition of The Undersea Cable Report totals well over 1,000 pages, making it by far the most complete source of industry information, forecasts, and analysis.  The report's submarine cable market forecasts have been relied upon by decision makers worldwide for the last decade.

Terabit’s Director of International Research, Michael Ruddy, is recognized as a leading expert in the field.  He began his career in the international telecommunications industry as an analyst at Kessler Marketing Intelligence (KMI) in Newport, Rhode Island, where he performed market and economic research on SONET and SDH equipment, emerging technologies, and undersea cables.  At KMI he was also the author of a highly influential single-client study, "Beyond ACMA", which helped contribute to the liberalization of the Atlantic Ocean’s submarine cable maintenance and repair markets.

In 1998 Mr. Ruddy was the second analyst to join Pioneer Consulting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was responsible for all undersea cable market analysis.  He was the creator and author of Pioneer’s 420-page published report, Worldwide Submarine Fiber Optic Systems.  This report, which featured innovative models of Internet, private enterprise, and voice demand (all of which have proven extremely accurate), set the benchmark for published reports about the industry and was also the first report to offer a forecast of infrastructure deployment as a function of international demand.

Mr. Ruddy has also authored the market studies for several leading undersea cable systems, including the groundbreaking 360Atlantic market study (originally the Hibernia Cable System), as well as the market studies for the Australia-Japan Cable, Nava-1, 360Pacific, Mercus-1, Axone, Global Link East Coast Festoon, EASSy, and ECSC. 

Prior to joining KMI, he performed market research and analysis for the United States Department of Commerce at the U.S. Consulate in Montreal, Quebec.

Mr. Ruddy was also a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State.

Mr. Ruddy has presented papers at dozens of conferences worldwide, and has served as chair of leading conferences in all regions of the globe, including Terrapinn's Submarine Networks conferences in Asia, Europe, and Australia; IBC’s Submarine Communications (Europe), and IBC’s Asia-Pacific Submarine Communications.  His opinion and commentary on the undersea cable market has been featured in leading publications worldwide including The New York Times and Forbes, and he has also appeared on CNN’s Moneyline News Hour.  He speaks fluent French and was deemed by the U.S. Department of State to be proficient in Italian.