I approve the TAT-8 milestone and I approve the spirit of the new text sent by Rob Thursday, 31 July. However, the narrative has several abbreviations and acronyms, which seems unbecoming for a formal citation. Consider the following.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX TAT-8, the first fiber-optic cable to cross an ocean, entered service on 14 December 1988. AT&T, British Telecom and France Telecom led the consortium that built TAT-8, which covered a seabed distance of 5846 kilometers between the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. AT&T Bell Laboratories developed the foundational technologies: 1.3 micron fiber, cabling and splicing, laser, detector, and 280 Mbps repeater for 40,000 telephone-calls capacity, and led the integration at Freehold, New Jersey. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

This citation has 75 words.

NOTE 1 For the purpose of grammar, I also changed … fiber, cable and splicing, … To … fiber, cabling and splicing, … Okay????

NOTE 2 Is this phrase correct? … splicing, laser, detector, and …

The phrase suggests that the TAT-8 project makes/invented the laser as a foundational technology. Lasers were developed decades before 1988. Is the intent to be “laser detector” technology? If so, then remove the comma so the phrase reads … splicing, laser detector, and … Someone, please address this issue.

John

Impagliazzo