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Undersea data cables have played a significant role in the history of telecommunications. Yet, they continue to be one of the most vulnerable infrastructural components of global trade. As increasing demands for data exchange and the global reliance on digital infrastructure continue to expand, understanding these cables as critical assets also provides interesting insight into geopolitical tensions and international dynamics.
Want to learn more about what's lurking on the ocean floor? Click through this gallery to find out.
There are 1.4 million km (870,000 mi) of telecommunication cables spread over the ocean floor. Measuring just 2 cm in diameter, end to end, they span the Sun’s diameter.
Every single ocean has telecommunication cables. They are responsible for 99% of all digital data.
They were first laid in the 19th century. The first cable ever laid was between England and France in 1850. A fisherman accidentally cut that cable.
Just a few years later, a cable 100 times longer was being planned across the Atlantic. In 1858, 4,000 km (2485 mi) of cable was placed between Ireland and Newfoundland, in Canada.
The first cross-Atlantic message, sent between Queen Victoria and US President James Buchanan, took just 17 hours to make its way across the ocean. It was revolutionary.
A cable with a connection speed 80 times faster was installed in 1866. It was made with better materials and insulation, as well as more resilience to damage.
By the early 20th century, an extensive cable network was connecting many parts of the world, allowing for faster communication to occur. Pictured is a mid-20th century cable-laying ship.
Post-World War II, global telecommunications infrastructure was highly dependent on submarine cables; not just for civilians, but for military operations as well.
Higher quality materials and the use of microwave technology, which uses a specific wavelength range akin to a radio frequency, helped increase cables' data capacity.
By the 1980s, the introduction of fiber optic cables allowed data to be sent as light pulses. In comparison to the traditional copper cables, their capacity allowed for a much higher communication speed.
Over a century after the first cable was laid, in 1988, the TAT-8 became the first submarine fiber optic cable to be installed, costing US$335 million. It held an initial capacity of 40,000 telephone circuits between the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
The initiative, led by a trifecta of telecommunication companies in each country, namely AT&T Corporation (United States), France Telecom (France), and British Telecom (United Kingdom), developed a less expensive method to boost how we communicate.
The cables connected three specific sites: Tuckerton, New Jersey (United States), Widemouth Bay, England (United Kingdom), and Penmarch, Brittany (France).
The cables were able to service the three countries using a groundbreaking "branching unit," located off the coast of England.
Despite hopes that the cable’s capacity would only be reached in 10 years, it reached capacity in just 18 months. But its existence and potential led to IBM, one of the largest American technology companies, to invest in developing a direct carrier system (T1), between New York’s Cornell University and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
This connection gave birth to the earliest form of the internet, and let to the development of the World Wide Web, just a few months later. Pictured is inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
The global data traffic that accompanied the expanding use of the internet in the 1990s boosted the elaboration of submarine cables.
By the early 1990s, the first trans-Pacific fiber optic cable, spanning from two American sites (Point Arena, California, to Makaha, Hawaii), was laid and fully operational.
Telecommunication companies around the world quickly understood that increasing the data capacity of the cables would be necessary to meet the demands of consumers.
By the turn of the century, huge investments in multi-terabit capacity cables were made to increase connectivity and data exchange.
There are a series of challenges that accompany the laying of cables along the ocean floor. Firstly, special ships are used to cautiously position large stretches of cables, ensuring they are placed along the correct route.
The cables are manufactured to be able to withstand deep ocean environments, which can be geologically unstable. Therefore, they need to be able to withstand things like seismic activities, saltwater, pressure, and nibbles from curious underwater animals.
Once a cable is laid, it’s not set in place forever. The cables are vulnerable to damages from natural disasters, as well as from ship and fishing equipment, requiring rapid interventions to avoid outages.
As data needs increase and technology improves on cable manufacturing, undersea cables are also constantly subjected to upgrades or substitution.
The utilization of what’s called dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), which means the combination of various information channels, with many different wavelength signals, into a single fiber, has been a game changer in terms of cables’ capacity to carry more data.
Even so, the global demand for data is much higher than the available bandwidth. What does this mean? With technologies like 5G and massive data centers that are integral to AI technology, among others, data needs will only continue to exceed what’s currently available.
Western countries and companies have historically dominated both the ownership and control of submarine cables, but China has recently become a key country in the industry.
China’s investments through its Belt and Road Initiative include infrastructural development of undersea cables throughout Africa and the Middle East.
Espionage and cybersecurity have also been major topics surrounding the vulnerability of these cables, as their interruption can lead to severe economic and security implications.
As reliance on digital infrastructure continues to grow, undersea cables will continue to be critical assets in the race for meeting consumer demands and advancing global technology. Therefore, they will also increasingly become a point of heavy investment, international tensions, and geopolitical dynamics.
Sources: (BBC) (SubmarineCableSystems.com) (Telefónica) (CBS News) (Submarine Cable Map) (CNN) (TeleGeography) (The Guardian)
See also: China's nuclear ambitions—a challenge to US dominance
The hidden network of undersea data cables
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LIFESTYLE Ocean
Undersea data cables have played a significant role in the history of telecommunications. Yet, they continue to be one of the most vulnerable infrastructural components of global trade. As increasing demands for data exchange and the global reliance on digital infrastructure continue to expand, understanding these cables as critical assets also provides interesting insight into geopolitical tensions and international dynamics.
Want to learn more about what's lurking on the ocean floor? Click through this gallery to find out.