Why protect undersea cables?
We are hearing reports about undersea cables being damaged by ships. What are these cables, and why is this a big concern? Humans are more connected than ever through the internet, which has become a necessity in our daily lives. Banking, online shopping, office communication, government services, the health sector, and almost every other sector now rely on an Internet connection. But how are we able to connect with someone or a server located thousands of miles away in just a fraction of a second? It may seem like magic, but the reality is that there are miles of physical underground and undersea cables connecting countries to each other. You can visualize these connections on sites like https://www.submarinecablemap.com/. Here’s how it works: If you want to send a message to a friend in the USA from the UK, your phone converts the data into radio waves using a transmitter. These radio waves are then emitted to the nearest cellular tower through its antenna. The tower receives the radio waves from various devices and sends the data to a data center, which is your internet service provider (ISP). The ISP then forwards that data to a destination data center connected by underground or undersea cables, such as the cable connecting the UK and the USA. Any damage to these cables can disrupt data connectivity for an entire nation and its people and can take months to repair. This situation highlights the need to protect our communication infrastructure, as it is a matter of national security and global connectivity.
We are hearing reports about undersea cables being damaged by ships. What are these cables, and why is this a big concern?
Humans are more connected than ever through the internet, which has become a necessity in our daily lives. Banking, online shopping, office communication, government services, the health sector, and almost every other sector now rely on an Internet connection. But how are we able to connect with someone or a server located thousands of miles away in just a fraction of a second? It may seem like magic, but the reality is that there are miles of physical underground and undersea cables connecting countries to each other. You can visualize these connections on sites like https://www.submarinecablemap.com/.
Here’s how it works: If you want to send a message to a friend in the USA from the UK, your phone converts the data into radio waves using a transmitter. These radio waves are then emitted to the nearest cellular tower through its antenna. The tower receives the radio waves from various devices and sends the data to a data center, which is your internet service provider (ISP). The ISP then forwards that data to a destination data center connected by underground or undersea cables, such as the cable connecting the UK and the USA.
Any damage to these cables can disrupt data connectivity for an entire nation and its people and can take months to repair. This situation highlights the need to protect our communication infrastructure, as it is a matter of national security and global connectivity.
