With the current harm to the Nord Stream fuel pipeline, there’s been numerous discuss concerning the potential threat to submarine telecommunications cables in Europe.
This incident has led to hypothesis about whether or not it could be attainable to by some means “minimize off” Europe from the remainder of the world. Whereas I do not wish to speculate on the danger of sabotage, I did assume it could be worthwhile to elucidate precisely how the continent connects to the remainder of the world.
Though the common individual might imagine information is primarily touring through satellites from Europe to the remainder of the world, the truth is that the overwhelming majority of intercontinental information is carried on submarine cables laid on the ocean ground.
It’s necessary to grasp that satellite tv for pc networks wouldn’t have the bandwidth to interchange what cables present. (I mentioned this challenge in a webinar earlier this 12 months.)
Satellites would permit some degree of information transmission between Europe and the remainder of the world, however would fail dramatically as a whole alternative.
Right here’s extra unhealthy information: undersea cables are fragile. On common, 2-4 cables break someplace on the planet each week. Given this example, the submarine cable business is sharply targeted on efforts to mitigate threat to cables. Cables are closely armored and buried in fault-prone areas.
Submarine cables are additionally protected by a sturdy system of response and restore. Dozens of cable ships are standing by to restore broken cables.
Security in Numbers
Europe advantages from a lot of cables. Harm to a single cable would have minimal influence on community efficiency as a result of availability of different paths.
Harm to a single cable would have minimal influence on community efficiency as a result of availability of different paths.
Our interactive submarine cable map is a superb place to view the massive variety of submarine cables related to Europe.
Present and Deliberate Submarine Cables Related to Europe
Europe’s submarine cable connectivity between different areas is concentrated alongside just a few main corridors.
Trans-Atlantic
Europe is related to North America through 17 cables. Nearly all of trans-Atlantic cables land within the U.Okay. and France, however Denmark, Norway, Eire, and Spain even have landings.
Keep in mind that the capability of the cables varies dramatically. The brand-new Grace Hopper cable, which hyperlinks the U.Okay. and Spain to the U.S., has a possible capability of 352 Tbps. In distinction, the older Yellow cable is able to solely 25 Tbps.
The trans-Atlantic route accounted for 75% of Europe’s whole interregional bandwidth in 2021.
Share of European Interregional Bandwidth by Area, 2021
Europe-West & North Africa
There are six main Europe-West African cable methods, together with 11 smaller cables that hyperlink Southern Europe to Northern Africa (excluding Egypt).
The brand new Equiano cable can be activated by the top of 2022, adopted by the expansive 2Africa cable the next 12 months.
Europe-Egypt & the Center East
Presently, 13 cable methods hyperlink Europe to Egypt and the Center East. The overwhelming majority of those cables are related to Egypt. These methods are additionally answerable for carrying information between Asia and Europe.
Past these three main corridors, Europe does have just a few different intercontinental choices. The EllaLink cable hyperlinks Portugal to Brazil, and the Caucasus Cable System spans the Black Sea, linking Bulgaria to Georgia with terrestrial connectivity to different nations within the Caucasus area.
What About Land-based Choices?
There are, after all, terrestrial networks that hyperlink Europe to Asia. These networks characteristic far much less capability than what is on the market on subsea cables, however extra importantly, all of them go through Russia (perhaps not a most popular routing lately).
For Europe to the Center East, there are terrestrial hyperlinks from Bulgaria-Turkey right down to the Center East. This feature lacks the capability to completely substitute subsea connectivity on the route.
General, terrestrial choices simply aren’t a viable back-up possibility for all of Europe’s interregional capability.
General, terrestrial choices simply aren’t a viable back-up possibility for all of Europe’s interregional capability.
Europe as a Hub
Let’s not low cost the function Europe performs as a significant community interconnection hub for Africa and the Center East.
As of year-end 2021, 97% of Africa’s interregional bandwidth was related to Europe, and for the Center East, that share was 90%. If Europe have been by some means minimize off from the remainder of the world, connectivity to those areas would even be considerably impaired.
Share of African and Center Jap Interregional Bandwidth Related to Europe, 2021
As this overview demonstrates, Europe has an array of various connectivity choices, with extra cables deliberate within the coming years.
Chopping off Europe from the remainder of the world wouldn’t be a easy job. For extra info on submarine cables and worldwide bandwidth demand, consult with our World Bandwidth Analysis Service.
