{"id":40401,"date":"2025-04-04T19:16:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=40401"},"modified":"2025-04-04T19:16:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:46:40","slug":"undersea-cables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/04-04-2025\/undersea-cables","title":{"rendered":"Undersea Cables\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Infrastructure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India is currently experiencing a significant boost in its <strong>digital backbone with the landing of new undersea cable systems<\/strong>, marking a pivotal step in enhancing its international <strong>bandwidth capacity and global internet connectivity.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Two major systems<\/strong>\u20142Africa Pearls, backed by Meta, and SEA-ME-WE-6 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-West Europe-6)\u2014have made their landing in India in 2024, specifically at Chennai and Mumbai.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The SEA-ME-WE 6<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is a <strong>21,700km submarine cable system <\/strong>between <strong>Singapore and France (Marseille), crossing Egypt through terrestrial cables.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The SMW6 (SEA-ME-WE 6) consortium includes telecommunications companies<\/strong> <strong>from countries like<\/strong> Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, the UAE, Djibouti, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, France, Myanmar, and Yemen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Are Undersea Cables?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Undersea cables<\/strong> connect <strong>global internet networks,<\/strong> providing<strong> vast data transfer capacity via fiber optic strands.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>These cables land at <strong>designated points and are linked to terrestrial networks.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They connect internet service providers and telecom operators everywhere with those in other countries.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>These cables are a few inches thick and are heavily padded<\/strong> to withstand the hostile environment of the sea floor.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Importance of Undersea Cables: <\/strong>About 90% of global data, 80% of world trade, and key financial and government transactions rely on undersea cables.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e9eadd\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"868\" height=\"510\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Undersea-Telecommunication-Cable-System.png\" alt=\"Undersea Telecommunication Cable System\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-40402\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e9eadd; width:448px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Undersea-Telecommunication-Cable-System.png 868w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Undersea-Telecommunication-Cable-System-300x176.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Undersea-Telecommunication-Cable-System-768x451.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 868px) 100vw, 868px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Fig1: Undersea Telecommunication Cable System<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India&#8217;s Cable Infrastructure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India has two main cable hubs, <strong>Mumbai and Chennai<\/strong>, with 17 cable systems landing there.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India also has two domestic cable systems <\/strong>\u2014 the <strong>Chennai Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI) cable<\/strong> to provide high-speed connectivity to the islands, and the Kochi Lakshadweep Islands project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Project Waterworth by Meta:<\/strong><br>&#8211; Meta introduced its subsea cable project, Project Waterworth, which will span 50,000 km, becoming the longest subsea cable project in the world.<br>&#8211; The project aims to enhance global connectivity, focusing on locations such as the U.S., India, Brazil, South Africa, and others.<br>&#8211; The investment for the project involves billions of dollars and is set to span multiple years, with a focus on providing AI access to users worldwide.<br><strong>Impact on India:<\/strong><br>&#8211; Project Waterworth will help accelerate India&#8217;s digital infrastructure growth and support the country\u2019s plans for its digital economy.<br><strong>Technical Details:<\/strong><br>&#8211; The cables will be laid at depths of up to 7,000 meters.<br>&#8211; Special measures will be implemented to protect cables in high-risk areas where damage is more likely.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Capacity and Future Demand:<\/strong> While current capacity is adequate, the increasing data traffic may outgrow existing infrastructure, prompting concerns over future sufficiency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Risks of Cable Disruptions: <\/strong>570 global subsea cables handle 90% of world data and 80% of trade.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If there\u2019s a disruption at the Red Sea, 25% of India\u2019s internet is affected.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India lacks local vessels for cable repairs, leading to delays.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Challenges in Cable Deployment: <\/strong>Excessive regulatory permissions slow down the process.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC):<\/strong><br>&#8211; Founded in 1958, it is a global forum for governments and commercial entities in the submarine cable industry.<br>&#8211; Its mission is to improve the security of undersea cables by providing a platform for sharing technical, legal, and environmental information.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Improvement Suggestions:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Streamlining the regulatory process and investing in local cable repair infrastructure are essential to improving India\u2019s subsea cable capabilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The government should categorize subsea cables as critical telecom infrastructure to secure tax exemptions and encourage investment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There\u2019s a call for better regulatory clarity and the establishment of a separate cable corridor to prevent damage from fishing activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background has-fixed-layout\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>What are Optical Fibers?<\/strong><br>&#8211; They are incredibly thin strands of very pure glass or plastic. They transmit information in the form of light pulses.<br><strong>How do they work?<\/strong><br>&#8211; They work on the principle of Total Internal Reflection (TIR). An optical fiber has a central core surrounded by a cladding layer. The core has a slightly higher refractive index than the cladding.\u00a0<br>&#8211; When light enters the core at a certain angle, it keeps bouncing off the cladding due to TIR, traveling down the fiber with minimal loss.<br><br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"176\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXcd4hAom_caFPexwkq5d4d7oyDmtiwopxO34XhIocwzetnoj_bBG5c0OvE9x1K26x5DrrqG598UUcePgMT0pbe7i_QTisFDfzTGnAALaA0IIL0Io_hzvp0Z6bsjxDyi0A?key=7mhVf2swoaCXsW-QHp73ldw9\"><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/technology\/why-are-undersea-cables-important-explained\/article69408007.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India is currently experiencing a significant boost in its digital backbone with the landing of new undersea cable systems, marking a pivotal step in enhancing its international bandwidth capacity and global internet connectivity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40403,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40401\/revisions\/40403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}