by There are more than 500 undersea cables around the world. They often connect continents, from Europe to Australasia, they provide internet connectivity to billions of people, many of whom have no idea they even exist.
They are one of those components of our global infrastructure that are fundamental to our way of life but are still underappreciated. No respect, that is, until the internet is disrupted.
And there seems to be a growing possibility. In the last few months, Houthi rebels in the Middle East allegedly sabotaged four major communication cables, belonging to the AAE-1, Seacom, EIG and TGN systems, at a stretch that runs between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti.
Hundreds of disruptive events a year, conflict or no conflict
The first of these cables is particularly important because it connects Asia, Europe and Africa, swimming nearly 16,000 miles from Hong Kong to southern France.
As Fortune reported earlier this year, the “Red Sea incident” – the attack and sinking of the cargo ship Rubymar off Yemen, which is believed to have caused the damage to the submarine internet cables – shows that internet cables, which are essential to our way . life, indeed fragile.
And yet it would be a mistake to think that the fragility of these cables has nothing to do with the possibility of accidental sabotage or damage in conflict conditions.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a bipartisan, non-profit policy research organization and think tank that analyzes global issues, has shed light on the danger of undersea cables — called “the soft underbelly of the economy global” — your submission.
His findings have been echoed and amplified by the Atlantic Council and a research report by the US Congress.
Although work is currently underway on more than 70 new cables that will cross approximately 300,000 kilometers of seabed, there are approximately 200 cable disruption incidents each year – conflict or non-conflict.
Satellite links are no different
We cannot stop earthquakes and erosion. Nor can we put an end to fishing or shipping if that were to be desired.
So we’re on the horns of a dilemma: we need internet connectivity, and yet the means by which we get it are constantly at risk — even more so, as the world becomes more volatile and connected.
One solution is satellite internet, the most famous provider of which is Elon Musk’s Starlink.
But while this provides coverage for around 70 countries, it is no match for underwater cables in terms of the volume of data it can transmit from one point to another on Earth, and the physics of RF downlinks from space to the limit of its limits. land.
In addition, it still relies on some physical infrastructure to route data. In other words, it shares some of the vulnerabilities of undersea cables.
With the increase in inter-satellite optical communication links, data is moving at a greater volume and speed in space between satellites.
However, the physics of the RF downlinks from the satellites to the ground prevent that data from being transferred from continent to continent or from point to point on the ground.
Meanwhile, optical technology is advancing
Optical ground stations (OGS) can transmit data at comparable speeds to submarine internet cables.
A network of these is capable of sending and receiving information at a rate more than 1,000 times that of the radio-frequency (RF) links on which the satellite internet relies.
Because OGSs rely on point-to-point laser communication, they are also extremely resilient. It is very difficult to intercept such a narrow, focused beam of light connecting the Earth to satellites, and it is very easy to protect against the small possibility of interference.
And because they use a mesh satellite network, they have no geographic boundaries, like submarine cables do. You can set up an OGS in a secure and accessible part of the world.
Finally, the historical problem affecting laser communication — that certain conditions, such as atmospheric turbulence, can degrade the quality of the connection — has been overcome in recent years, thanks to innovative development in Europe, a world leader in photonics. techniques that “create light”.
Let’s look over land and sea
Governments around the world must look beyond land and sea to preserve the internet connectivity we depend on.
We may hope for peace; but if recent years are anything to go by, we can reasonably expect geopolitical volatility and the need for investment in security-enhancing technology to grow.
Meanwhile, the impact of disrupting the flow of data around the world will increase in magnitude.
Undersea internet cables are at risk. This puts internet access for everyone in Europe and beyond at risk.
We need to provide a resilience layer to the global internet to support them. Luckily, there is technology.
Jeff Huggins is the President of Calabash US.
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