![]() “Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. To answer this, I’ll start with quote from Henry David Thoreau: Why are there many cables between some continents but no cables between Australia and South America, for instance? If we use South Africa as an example, two cables connect on the west coast, while three extend from the east coast. As you will see on the map, nearly all countries that have a coastline are connected to a submarine cable.Ĭountries must have multiple cables to ensure reliable connectivity in case there is damage to a cable. We’re constantly updating this free resource to illustrate the world’s active and planned cables. ![]() The best way to answer this is to visit TeleGeography’s Submarine Cable Map. In contrast, others are incredibly long, such as the 20,000 kilometer Asia America Gateway cable. Some cables are quite short, like the 131 kilometer CeltixConnect cable between Ireland the United Kingdom. Of course, considerable care is taken to ensure cables follow the safest path to avoid fault zones, fishing zones, anchoring areas, and other dangers. To reduce inadvertent damage, the undersea cable industry also spends a lot of time educating other marine industries on the location of cables.Įxample Trans-Atlantic cable route seabed profile How many kilometers of cable are there?Īs of 2018, we believe there are over 1.2 million kilometers of submarine cables in service globally. Nearer to the shore cables are buried under the seabed for protection, which explains why you don’t see cables when you go the beach, but in the deep sea they are laid directly on the the ocean floor. These fibers are sheathed in a few layers of insulation and protection. Cables laid nearer to shore use extra layers of armoring for enhanced protection.ĭo the cables actually lay on the bottom of the ocean floor? The filaments that carry light signals are extremely thin - roughly the diameter of a human hair. ![]() Parts of a submarine cable How thick are undersea cables?įor most of its journey across the ocean, a cable is typically as wide as a garden hose. These glass fibers are wrapped in layers of plastic (and sometimes steel wire) for protection. Lasers on one end fire at extremely rapid rates down thin glass fibers to receptors at the other end of the cable. Modern submarine cables use fiber-optic technology. These paths are chosen after comprehensive marine surveys that select routes to avoid hazardous conditions, which could potentially damage a cable. In real life, cables that cross similar areas of an ocean take similar paths. This design approach makes it easier to follow different cables and discern their landing points. The cable routes on our map are stylized and do not reflect the actual path taken by systems. Are the submarine cable paths shown the actual route taken by the cables? The total number of cables is constantly changing as new cables enter service and older cable are decommissioned. This map was made possible in-part by our sponsor: Submarine Cable 101 How many cables are there?Īs of early 2018, there are approximately 448 submarine cables in service around the world. Map of ocean floor cables tapped by the NSA.
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