Highlights
- The combined length of all active cables exceeds 1.3 million kilometers. This is enough to circle the Earth more than 32 times at the equator.
- Over 99% of the world’s inter-continental internet traffic flows through these cables.
- There are over 400 active cable systems worldwide, with many more planned.
- These cables facilitate over $12 trillion in financial transactions every single day.
- For example, a deep-sea cable can weigh about 1.4 tons per kilometer . In contrast, a heavily armored cable in shallower water can be much heavier. The massive Marea cable crossing the Atlantic, for instance, has a total weight of 10.25 million pounds (approximately 4,650 metric tons) over its 4,000-mile (6,600 km) length . A shorter, 6km cable to an island can weigh over 13,500 kg (13.5 metric tons)
- The network is designed to handle failure. There is no single point of failure. With hundreds of cables crisscrossing the oceans, data can be automatically rerouted along a different path if one cable is cut
- The network is designed to handle failure. There is no single point of failure. With hundreds of cables crisscrossing the oceans, data can be automatically rerouted along a different path if one cable is cut
- A Fragmented Internet: The world could splinter into separate digital spheres. The internet as a single, global network would effectively end, replaced by regional or national networks with limited connections to each other