Submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid beneath the sea to carry telecommunications between countries. The first submarine communications cables carried telegraphy traffic. Subsequent generations of cables carried first telephony traffic, then data communications traffic. All modern cables use fiber optic technology to carry digital payloads, which are then used to carry telephone traffic as well as Internet and private data traffic.
As of 2002, submarine cables link all the world's continents except Antarctica.
- This is a stub article, designed to factor out general communications cable issues from transatlantic / telephone / telegraph special cases
History of submarine communications cables
While the first transatlantic telegraph cable had been laid in 1858 (Cyrus Field), it had only operated for a month. Attempts in 1865 and 1866 were more successful but although a telephone cable was discussed from the 1920s it needed a number of technological advances that did not arrive until the 1940s to be practical.
- blowing up the first cable
- Lord Kelvin and the mirror galvanometer
Technology of submarine communications cables
- electromagnetic issues
- mirror galvanometer
- coaxial cable
- frequency division multiplex
- reliability
- repeaters
- power distribution for repeaters
- fiber optics
- optical repeaters, Erbium-doped fiber amplifier
- self-healing ring
- SONET
- wavelength division multiplex
to be written
Economics of submarine communications cables
- national telco partnerships
- opening to third parties
- venture capital
- boom and bust
- FLAG, Project Oxygen
- exponential rise in capacity over time
to be written
Owners and operators of submarine communications cables
to be written
Owners and operators of cable-laying ships
to be written
See also:
External links: