This valuable combination of technology and business nous is best exemplified by Orcon's Odyssey Network, which the judges noted Salmen had conceived and sold to the board of Orcon and its parent company Kordia, before it was successfully delivered by his team. 

What stands out from this experience is that Salmen pitched the project, which required substantial investment, at the height of the worst economic slowdown in the past two decades. 

The international transmission network is now one of the strongest financially performing areas of Orcon.

Ode to Odyssey

Salmen recalls the steps leading to the project. Until four years ago, he says, Orcon bought all of its international capacity in New Zealand from Telecom and other international carriers with a local presence.