ZAO “Polarnet Project” of Russia (www.polarnetproject.ru) has announced a tender for the supply of the Russian Optical Trans Arctic Submarine Cable System (ROTACS), which will connect Europe and Asia via the shortest possible geographical route across the Arctic, opening a new chapter in the history of global submarine telecommunications. Construction of ROTACS is expected to commence in 2H 2012. ROTACS will provide the best-in-class latency route between the UK and Japan/China, and will be the first system to be built along the unique trans-Arctic geographic route. Furthermore, the design of the system will use the latest developments in optical transmission technology…