Cable Co. Ltd., the company formed to lay a new undersea telecommunications cable between Bermuda and the US has hired Raymond Charlton to oversee the Challenger submarine cable system.

Mr. Charlton will work as station manager and after Challenger's construction is complete, he will be responsible for ongoing maintenance and operations.

Cable Co. Ltd. was established by KeyTech Ltd., North Rock Communications Ltd., and Transact Ltd. and received its Class A licence to build and operate the Challenger cable system in December last year.

The new cable, a 1,400-kilometre, seamless, end-to-end network with an initial capacity of 320 Gbps, offers Bermudian customers system redundancy and supplier diversity in international cable facilities.

Mr. Charlton has had much experience of managing global cable and satellite telecommunications systems. From 1977 to 1998, he was employed as engineering manager by Cable and Wireless in Bermuda. During this time he was responsible for the PTAT and CARAC undersea cables. In 1998, Mr. Charlton joined WorldCom where he managed the installation and commissioning of Gemini North, an undersea cable linking the US with the UK.

At WorldCom, he also played a lead role in commissioning the Southern Cross and the Japan-US cable systems connecting the mainland US with Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Since 2003, Ray has served in a variety of network management roles in the US for Cox Communications, Charter Communications and the National Grid.

Born in Bermuda, Ray attended Chelmsford University and the Cable and Wireless Engineering College in Cornwall, England where he earned his Higher National Diploma in Telecommunications Engineering and Electronics.