You know that Internet is moving under the sea? The interconnected world we live in would be impossible if 1858 development of the first installation project of a transatlantic submarine cable linking Newfoundland and Ireland. This cable came to serve as a bridge between the United States and Ireland and successfully conveyed a congratulatory letter from Queen Victoria to US President James Buchanan. But it did not work for a long time because the transmission signal decreased and it was not operational for more than three weeks.

It was in 1956 that the installation of the so-called TAT-1 (Transatlantic No. 1), which connected the United States, Canada and Europe. This cable made it possible to connect the two continents by 36 telephone lines and, quickly, they realized they would need a second cable to continue the connection, so that way the TAT-2.

Nearly 165 years after the first attempt, last October, he reached the Barcelona Cable Landing Stationhe 2Africa, the longest submarine cable in the world to date. Its 45,000 kilometers serve as a bridge for companies and service providers located in Spain to access international connectivity.

After this review of the history of submarine cables, DE-CIX offers 5 curious facts about these infrastructures.

5 Curious Facts About Undersea Cables

1. They’re not indestructible

A submarine cable has a average lifespan of about 25 years if stored in optimal conditions. From there, their maintenance is more and more delicate and their state depends a lot on the natural conditions since, in the long term, they are submerged in the depths of the ocean and it is impossible to control the natural force.

2. How are they repaired?

It must be taken into account that the bottom of the sea is not a completely safe place and that these cables are exposed to geographical accidents, animal attacks, anchor strikes from ships, etc. First of all, let us specify that there is no human risk in this procedure. There are ships located at strategic points in the sea where there is a greater concentration of submarine cables so that when a failure is detected in one of them, the ship moves to the coordinates specific and thanks to a robot, it is carried out. repair of the affected cable. The cable is brought to the surface and after fixing the problem, it is submerged again.

3. How big are they?

Although thinking about the submarine cables that carry millions of data and connect the continents makes us believe that it is a gigantic infrastructure, the truth is that nothing could be further from reality. Submarine cables consist of sets of optical fiber They are usually the diameter of a hair. What means greater volume is the protection of these as they need multiple layers of tough materials such as polyethylene, copper and even waterproof aluminum barriers. Always counting on layers of protection Additionally, these cables are generally no larger than the size of a garden hose or a human arm. But, it should be mentioned that the parts of the submarine cables closest to the coasts usually have a more important protective coating so that they are more protected.

4. Advantages over satellites

There optical fiber is much faster and generates much lower latency in sending data than connections established using satellite. In addition, they are not exposed to solar storms, which usually cause problematic communication interference, and at the same time they are less vulnerable to hacking.

5. How many are there?

In total they are more than 400 submarine cables those that unfold in the depths of the planet. In Spain we currently have 28 submarine cables. In 2021, a new extension of 2Africa was announced and it will connect the Canary Islands to the peninsula. There are cables of all kinds of lengths, some very short, like the 130km link between Ireland and the UK, or the 28,000km link between Japan and the UK.