Submarine Cable Optic Connection

Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that feasible with the human voice, but with a similar scale of expediency; thus, slow systems are excluded from the field.

(70%)

Why don't companies use satellites instead?
Satellites are great for certain applications. Satellites do a wonderful job of reaching areas that aren’t yet wired with fiber. They are also useful for distributing content from one source to multiple locations.

However, on a bit-for-bit basis, there’s just no beating fiber-optic cables. Cables can carry far more data at far less cost than satellites.

It’s hard to know exactly how much of all international traffic is still carried via satellite, but it’s very small. Statistics released by U.S. Federal Communications Commission indicate that satellites account for just 0.37% of all U.S. international capacity.


OK, but what about my mobile device. Isn't that wireless?
When using your mobile phone, the signal is only carried wirelessly from your phone to the nearest cell tower. From there, the data will be carried over terrestrial and subsea fiber-optic cables.


I saw Facebook is launching their own satellites and Google has internet drones now. Are cables really the future?
Both of these companies are investing in these projects primarily as a way to bring internet access to less developed parts of the world where there is little or no access to the global internet. They are not looking to use satellites or drones as a way to offset their usage of submarine cables at this time.

Both Facebook and Google are continuing to build new submarine cables, such as the planned Pacific Light Cable Network in which they are both investors.



Why do you use a Mercator projection?
A fair question: doesn’t the Mercator projection distort land masses further from the equator?

This is precisely the reason we switched to the Mercator projection in 2001. The wider spacing of land masses in the northern hemisphere allows us to draw and distinguish cables that land in densely-used landing sites like New York/New Jersey, Porthcurno, and Bude.

As with all thematic maps, we chose the projection based on the most important details that we want to show on the map. In our case, that's the submarine cables themselves and where they land. The land mass, greyed out in our design, serves a supporting role.


Can I download the data to make my own map?
Yes you can.

Our GitHub page explains how you can download the data and make your own version of the map. Please note: we provide the data as-is and under the Creative Commons Share alike, non-commercial license.

If you would like to license the data for commercial purposes, someone on our sales team would be happy to assist.


How often do you update the map?
Our globe-trotting team of analysts keeps their fingers on the pulse of the industry to ensure that the most recent submarine cable deployments, new landing points, changes in topology, and cable retirements are reflected on the map. We've also received dozens of cable updates from concerned citizens around the globe. If you have an update or correction, let us know at [email protected].



Is this map available under a Creative Commons License?
Our map is made available under the following Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0). (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)



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