The cable is only slightly thicker than a garden hose. Still, it can accommodate a billion movie streams – at the same time. It lies on the bottom of the sea and is unattended for long stretches.
Historically, anchors and bottom trawling have been the biggest threats to the cables and that is why they are marked on charts.
– Our cable is 700 kilometers long, so it is difficult to protect every meter, says Martin Lippert, CEO of the telecom company Global Connect.
In principle, all of Sweden’s internet traffic, which is constantly increasing, comes via submarine cables. When they were posted, the risk of sabotage was not taken into account, explains Martin Lippert. And the cables are easy to find.
– But there is a lot of metal in a submarine cable, so they are easy to identify with various forms of sonar and detectors.
Repaired within 24 hours
If a cable should break, it is possible to repair it. What can take time is getting access to a special cable laying vessel, of which there are not many.
– But the repair itself typically takes a day, says Martin Lippert.
Why can’t you use satellites?
– There is not the same capacity, they use radio waves. Fiber has almost infinite capacity.