Subsea Cables

What are subsea cables?

Subsea cables are fiber-optic cables about the width of a thick garden hose laid on the ocean floor, which are used to connect continents and data centers around the world. These cables connect 97-99% of all internet traffic, with hundreds of cables currently in operation or under construction. Traditionally subsea cables were owned by telecom carrier consortia and then later internet backbone providers. However, the bandwidth used by “content providers” like Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft – called “the Big 4” in the submarine cable industry – has risen so rapidly they decided a decade ago to invest in their own infrastructure.