The world has gotten more sophisticated over time. We see employment of wireless connectivity such as Bluetooth, 3G and Wi-Fi everywhere we go. However, just because we see cables less often doesn’t mean they’re completely fazed out. The handy short-range connectivity is only applicable as far as end-users are concerned. Cables are still what keeps the world of information technology intact.
According to Wikipedia, only one percent of internet data and voice traffic is channeled via satellite, while the rest are carried by undersea cables strewed across oceans. When your internet connection suffers disruption–it could be a huge ship passing over the cables, or there could be an undersea earthquake happening somewhere. There happens to be a lot more potential for disruption in the oceans than in land, considering the proportion of the two bodies.
I’m sure one day we won’t need these underwater cables anymore. But since we still do, check out the updated interactive Submarine Map, which outlines the courses of cables lying under the seabed. You can zoom the map in and out, and can click on a particular colored cable to see their owners and landing points. The map is courtesy of TeleGeography, a US telecommunications research firm.
