Generally speaking, it is the undersea cable maintence folks who benefit since they do the repairs. Alcatel, Global Marine, Tyco Submarine, to name a few. It is common practice to use the same company that laid the cable, but it is not an obligation.

Contracts are structured as an annual charge with a per incident fee.

Right now these charges are going up as fuel costs rise.

Regards,

Roderick S. Beck
Director of European Sales
Hibernia Atlantic
1, Passage du Chantier, 75012 Paris
http://www.hiberniaatlantic.com