Undersea fiber optic cable - the new power of the world
Thousands of miles of fiber optic cables running along the seabed are considered key to the world's balance of power, but they are also susceptible to influence.
Undersea fiber optic cables play an extremely important role in the Internet age. 99% of the world's data traffic today is not transmitted by air, but through underground and seabed cable systems. Among them, hundreds of undersea fiber optic cables provide more than 99% of Internet connection traffic between continents. With just one disruption, many regions around the world will be affected.
The fiber optic cable is pulled onto the installation ship of Subcom, Google's partner. Photo: Subcom
That special importance makes undersea fiber optic cable considered a new power and all parties are racing to install and deploy it quietly. "The industry is booming," one expert told the Telegraph . "They're constantly building around the clock." Unlike other fields, the undersea cable installation process is often kept secret. "One of the best ways to protect undersea cables is to not talk about it," this expert said.
Previously, undersea cables were installed by network operators such as Deutsche Telekom, AT&T, Telecom Italia, Vodafone and Orange, or telecommunications manufacturers such as Alcatel Submarine Networks, SubCom and NEC. Now, most American technology giants such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google (FAANG) have also participated and have their own undersea fiber optic cables. Google alone has four major cable lines: Curie, Dunant, Equiano and Junior.
"Three years ago, on the Atlantic route, FAANG only had 5% market share. Now, they account for 50% and the number could increase to 90% in the next three years," said a telecommunications expert.
A group of workers is repairing the SEA-ME-WE-5 route through France. Photo: AFP
New power China
China is also not left out. They are even trying to control more cable routes to balance power with the West.
Since 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission - China's main economic management agency - has published an ambitious report, outlining a program to build cross-border fiber optic cables to create a "pathway". digital silk". To date, this country has installed and put into use submarine fiber optic cable networks in 76 countries, from neighboring countries to Latin America.
China was once considered too far behind to catch up with the US, UK, France, and Japan in the field of fiber optic cables. But Huawei has changed that. Since the early 2000s, the telecommunications company has industrialized its optical terminals and technology, but it lacks expertise in cable manufacturing. Next, they cooperated with installation company Global Marine (UK). By 2008, the joint venture Huawei Marine Networks was born.
The joint venture prospered until 2019, when Global Marine sold its stake in Huawei Marine Networks, including its cable fleet, to China's Hengtong Optic-Electric for $285 million. The deal quickly brought Hengtong to new heights, becoming one of the rare units to control the entire supply chain including cables, repeaters, terminals and fleets.
Jean Devos, former director of Alcatel Submarcom, said that the deal was a mistake by the West. "They can only blame themselves. They were completely naive," Devos said.
China is predicted to soon make the West dependent on undersea fiber optic cables, especially on "made in China" infrastructure equipment. Recently, the country is also said to be investing in a $500 million undersea route connecting Asia, the Middle East and Europe. According to four sources told Reuters , the three carriers China Telecom, China Mobile Limited and China Unicom aim to create the world's most advanced and far-reaching undersea cable network, called EMA, connecting Hong Kong with Hai Phong island. South, then Singapore, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and France.
Timothy Heath, a researcher at the RAND Corporation, said that the US and China jointly building separate cables connecting continents could be an initial sign of global Internet infrastructure, including fiber optic cables, hubs, etc. data and mobile networks, are at risk of being divided over the next decade.
Risks from undersea fiber optic cables
Despite being important lifelines, undersea fiber optic cables are very vulnerable. In addition to intentional sabotage, submarine cables are also susceptible to damage caused by the environment, ships or marine life. An average of 150 cases of cable damage are reported annually. Repair teams have to work regularly to ensure seamless Internet, and insurance companies have to spend millions of dollars each time to fix it.
"If cable ships don't take the time to repair, the world's Internet will stop working in just a few months," said a fiber optic cable expert.
However, it is feared that the undersea fiber optic cable system could also become the target of attacks or targeted sabotage efforts in the future. In 2018, British parliamentarian Rishi Sunak raised the risk that terrorists could use specialized hooks attached to fishing boats to sabotage cables, "dealing the British Internet a crippling blow".
Some solutions have been proposed to reduce dependence, such as Elon Musk's Starlink satellite Internet. However, experts say this method should only be applied in remote areas or in backup cases. It is not suitable for transmitting hundreds of terabytes per second between continents.
"More needs to be done to protect undersea fiber optic cables, because everyone depends on them. Keeping them operational is extremely important for national security and for any country's economy." come on," Alan Mauldin, Director of Research at TeleGeography, told Wired .
Bao Lam (according to Telegraph, Wired )
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