Submarine communications cable

A cable laid on or beneath the seabed that carries telecommunications signals between land-based stations, usually through optical fibers. It enables high-capacity connections across oceans and between coastal regions.

Optical fiber: A thin transparent strand that carries information as pulses of light. Its glass fibers carry most modern submarine cable traffic.
Submarine telegraph cable: An undersea cable designed to transmit electrical telegraph signals between distant locations. Telegraph cables were the technological predecessors of modern fiber-optic routes.
Internet backbone: The high-capacity network of interconnected routes that carries internet traffic between major networks. Submarine links form the backbone’s principal intercontinental paths.
Internet outage: A loss or severe disruption of internet connectivity affecting users, services, or networks. Cable faults can interrupt international routes and degrade connectivity.
Communications satellite: An artificial satellite that relays radio signals between distant points on Earth. Satellites provide an alternative path, but carry a smaller share of long-distance data traffic.
Submarine repeater: An underwater device that amplifies or regenerates signals traveling through a communications cable. Repeaters restore optical signals along long ocean routes.
Transatlantic telegraph cable: The first successful cable system transmitting telegraph messages across the Atlantic Ocean, completed in 1866. Its success established a permanent communications link between Europe and North America.
Global Internet: The worldwide system of interconnected computer networks that exchange data using shared protocols. Undersea cables carry most intercontinental internet data between network regions.
Cable sabotage: The deliberate damaging or disruption of submarine communications cables. Physical damage can threaten connectivity and raise security concerns.
Satellite Internet: Internet access delivered through communications satellites rather than terrestrial cable networks. It can reach remote places without a landing station, unlike cable-based service.

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