1204 Big End to the Year

The Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit came to an end. They finally reached a resolution to finalize the new international encryption algorithm.

By using this standard as a reference, communications departments of various countries would upgrade a series of security systems in fields such as finance, replacing them with more secure quantum encryption algorithms.

Most countries directly copied the QS2000 encryption algorithm developed by China.

After all, this quantum computer algorithm was made by Professor Lu. No one knew better than him on how to defend against cyberattacks initiated by quantum computers.

Professor Lu’s achievements in mathematics were much higher than his achievements in physics.

This alone was enough to give people psychological comfort.

California, United States.

A board meeting was held at the headquarters of SubCom.

CEO Markati walked into the conference room and sat down. He had a look of worry on his face, not a trace of relaxation in sight. He tried to make himself look more comfortable; however, he was not doing a good job.

The situation recently was very bad.

The No.3 Asia-Pacific cable plan had failed. The company’s share price was still falling. Their profits could not meet market expectations. Part of this was caused by the external environment. The board of directors could not find any solution to change the situation.

Not to mention that East Asia Communications had completed their merger and reorganization of Chinese communications companies, they were also planning on aggressively entering the international market.

There was no doubt that these industry giants, which had been monopolizing the market for decades, were facing the most severe crisis in history.

Coincidentally, just a few days ago at the Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit, China had united more than 50 countries to form the “Global Submarine Cable Committee”, which was abbreviated as GSCC. They planned to lay a cable that crossed through the Pacific Ocean, through Central America, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and across the Indian Ocean.

This fiber optic cable was worth more than 50 billion US dollars, none of which they had anything to do with.

The United States, which was originally against the submarine quantum optical cable, suddenly was on the fence.

The United States Congress had decided to ignore the White House and let the Federal Communications Commission talk with China about the “new internet cable”.

Political interests were important, but they also had to protect the interests of Wall Street.

If Wall Street lost control of the global economy, it would deindustrialize the United States. The government would not be able to support the current economic scale. The consequences could be unimaginable.

Unsurprisingly, the unbreakable encryption technology was the future.

After all, when it came to traditional optical cables, the transmitted data was powerless against quantum computers. Someone would only need a nuclear submarine to collect the data. They could monitor the entire communication line without being discovered by anyone.

With the power of quantum computers, anyone would have the ability to filter and parse out useful data.

If this kind of basic information security was not guaranteed, there could not be a credit system.

“Mr. Markati.” Chairman Bob Carter stared into the eyes of CEO Markati and tapped his laptop with his pen as he said, “You’re finally here.”

Markati felt his face tighten under the pressure.

“I was caught up in some work, but we can start now.”

“Of course, but before the meeting begins, I want to ask you something.”

“Yeah, what?”

“We heard that our company is completely excluded from the global submarine optical cable project.” Carter’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “Is that the case?”

Markati knew the chairman would ask this question. He took a deep breath and tried to think of a way to defend himself. He then replied reluctantly, “We’re working on it.”

Carter nodded and spoke.

“I appreciate your words, but we want to see results. We don’t want to see our poor earnings report and the fall of our stock price.”

Markati: “Financial reports and stock prices do not represent everything, and many things are behind the scenes. We are working with the Quantum Communication Institute of the Argonne National Laboratory to develop a quantum repeater technology. And when we solve the critical bottlenecks—”

Carter asked abruptly, “How long will that take?”

Markati took a deep breath and went silent for a few seconds.

“I can assure you that it will be done within two years.”

“Looks like you are fairly honest. You could have lied and said three months.” The chairman nodded and casually threw aside the report in his hand. He said, “However, honesty, just like hard work, can’t solve our problem.”

Markati went silent. He clenched his fists and slowly relaxed them again.

“You’re right.”

Carter: “So, can you find a solution?”

When Markati went silent again, Carter sighed with a look of realization on his face.

Even though Markati couldn’t be blamed for this, the company had to make changes in order to survive.

Even if they might have to make some sacrifices.

“East Asia Communications provided us with an interesting proposal.” Carter gestured to his assistant, who handed him a contract. He placed the contract gently on the table and said, “This one is worth about two billion USD. With a financing proposal of around 100 million USD.”

Two billion dollars!

A lot of people in the room took a deep breath.

This was the first time the smaller shareholders heard about the news. They had a look of uncertainty on their faces.

Letting East Asia Communications become a shareholder.

This would not impact the major shareholders. After all, they and East Asia Communications must have signed some agreements they were unaware of. However, this was definitely not a good thing for the minority shareholders and trust companies that held SubCom shares.

However, the board of directors obviously intended to sacrifice their interests in order to survive...

“You can’t accept it!”

Markati stood up abruptly. He propped his hands on the table and spoke fiercely.

“This is a scheme from the Chinese. Even though they do have some advantages in quantum communication technology, they are at least 20 years behind in experience for laying submarine optical cables. If we let the Chinese people on our board—”

Carter: “This is none of your concern, the board will do a vote...”

Markati said in a threatening tone, “There is no way the Department of Commerce will approve!”

Carter looked at Markati calmly and said in a casual tone, “As for you, thank you for your dedication to SubCom over the years. East Asia Communications wants to appoint a new CEO in the near future.

“After this meeting, go to the finance department for your exit bonus.”

Markati angrily slammed the door and walked out of the conference room. The other board members looked at each other. Carter sighed with a blank face.

historical

In any case, SubCom was a lost cause.

Soon, the entire submarine optical cable market would go through a revolution. Neither SubCom nor NEC could stop this change.

NEC had already withdrawn from the submarine optical cable market and had begun to focus their business on the electrical industry. Their old rivals in Europe were also trying to transform their business model, and they even laid off many employees.

Even though his decision today might not be correct.

This was their only choice...