The most significant of these is the 6,600 km long Marea cable, weighing over 4,000 tonnes, which connects North America and Spain across the Atlantic. It has 8 fibre optic pairs and can transmit 160 terabits per second (Tbps). This is a very high figure.
For comparison: the Oman Australia Cable (OAM), with a distance of almost 10 thousand km, transmits only 45 Tbit/s. At the same time, the OAC trunk is important, as it connects Europe, the Middle East and Australia across the Indian Ocean.
Important backbone projects include the jordan number data Dunant and New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable System. Dunant is a transatlantic cable built by Subcom. It has 12 pairs of fiber optics and provides a transmission of 250 Tbit/s. The NCP cable connects North America with Southeast Asian countries.
Cable hazards
It is estimated that in the Atlantic Ocean alone, more than 50 cable failures occur each year. In these cases, special repair teams are on duty to search for damage and head to the site of the failure. The cables are pulled out of the water and the damaged areas are repaired directly on board the ships.
by underwater earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions and other disasters. For example, in 2022, the island nation of Togo was left without communication due to a volcanic eruption. However, in the middle of the ocean, the cable is relatively safe, unlike the coastal zone. There, despite precautions, it is often damaged by passing ships, fishing vessels and even intruders. According to rough estimates, these factors account for about 80% of damage.
Tyco Resolute cablelayer lays cable in coastal area
However, cable damage in most cases does not lead to a complete Internet outage in a particular country. The signal is rerouted through backup areas and even neighboring countries.