Submarine cables are fast becoming the medium of choice for broadband communications. They are basically cables laid under the sea, which speed up the communication between two countries. Generally, undersea cabling is done with the use of fiber optic cables, which measure approximately 70 millimetres in diameter and weigh 10 kg per meter. One of the advantages of undersea cables is that they can remove broadband speed bottlenecks and offer faster download speed.
As the demand for broadband internet speed keeps rising, organizations and governments are devising ways to provide high speed broadband for the people. Internet in Australia is growing exponentially as evident in the 50% increase in downloads each year. This has invoked Australian telecommunication companies to invest in broadband infrastructure. One of the major investments is a $200 million project for the construction of a 6900-kilometre undersea data cable which will run from Sydney to Guam. This undersea cable will facilitate affordable fast broadband internet speed for all Australians.
Efforts are underway to create Seacom, an undersea cable that caters to Europe, the Far East, and the southern part of Africa. With undersea links between these regions, it is guaranteed that broadband internet speed will shoot up. The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is a 9900-km undersea cable which will run between Durban and Port Sudan. EASSy’s 640Gbps of fibre-based bandwidth will offer fast download speed to more than 200 million internet users in Africa.
Undersea cables are providing an opportunity for broadband service providers to create a reliable and high-speed broadband infrastructure. As of now, all the continents of the world are linked by undersea cables, except Antarctica.