BOSTON (December 15, 2004) - ” Pioneer Consulting's New Business Models for the Transpacific & Asia Pacific Submarine Cable Industry 2005 Update is maintaining its forecast that the oversupply which has dogged the market is now dwindling and that the first new transpacific cables should materialize in 2005-6. The Asia Pacific region is more over-supplied but demand continues to grow with certain routes requiring additional capacity before the region as a whole goes deficit in 2009.

However, the nature of the market has changed. Industry consolidation, brought about by plummeting bandwidth prices, has hit private operators the hardest, leaving the field for major regional telcos. This means that the traditional consortium will once again be the model of choice for most new cable systems, although the injection of Chinese and Indian capital is likely to make a few waves.

"The structure of the industry continues to evolve,"