FEATURE
PUSHING THE LIMITS OF UNDERSEA CABLE NETWORKS TO PROVIDE GLOBAL DATA CONNECTIVITY
C
loud-based communication conjures up thoughts of data sharing in the sky, but we need to look to the bottom of the ocean when it comes to international data communications. Undersea cable networks are responsible for carrying most of the world’s intercontinental digital communications – relied upon to support global connectivity including the internet. With approximately 1.2 million kilometers of fiber optic subsea cables currently in service worldwide according to TeleGeography, over 99% of international data traffic is traversing ocean floors via cable – and failure is not an option.
44 SUBMARINE TELECOMS MAGAZINE
BY OLIVIER TREMBLAY-LAVOIE
With 5G becoming a reality, the importance of submarine networks becomes even more evident as we look to the tsunami of demand growth coming from evolving cloud and edge computing requirements, and tighter performance requisites to deliver reliability and low latency for video, ultra-HD, gaming, and new immersive technology experiences. Data rates are mushrooming from 100G and 200G today, to 400G and beyond, adding to the challenge to keep pace. In terrestrial networks, data centers are developing at the edge, bringing cloud-based services closer to end users to