{"id":53535,"date":"2025-09-09T20:35:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T15:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=53535"},"modified":"2025-09-11T13:11:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T07:41:07","slug":"submarine-cables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/09-09-2025\/submarine-cables","title":{"rendered":"Submarine Cables"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Science and Technology<\/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>Undersea cable damage in the Red Sea has slowed internet access across several countries in Asia and the Middle East, including India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are Submarine Cables?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Definition:<\/strong> Submarine cables are fiber optic cables laid on the ocean floor, connecting two or more landing points across countries and continents.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Role: <\/strong>India is a significant player in the global submarine cable network, with 17 international cables and 14 landing stations in cities like Mumbai and Chennai.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As of the end of <strong>2022<\/strong>, the total lit capacity and activated capacity of these cables stood at <strong>138.606 Tbps<\/strong> and <strong>111.111 Tbps,<\/strong> respectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Significance: <\/strong>Submarine cables form the backbone of the global digital economy, carrying over <strong>99%<\/strong> of international data exchange.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They support critical services like e-commerce, financial transactions, and global communications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Is a Fiber Optic Cable?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A fiber-optic cable is a type of networking cable that uses light to transmit data through thin strands of glass or plastic called optical fibers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fiber-optic cables <strong>transmit data<\/strong> using pulses of light based on the <strong>principle of total internal reflection.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Main Elements of Fiber Optics:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The core: <\/strong>Data signals are converted into light pulses and sent through the core, a thin glass or plastic strand at the center of the fiber.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The cladding: <\/strong>Surrounding the core is the cladding, another layer of glass with a lower refractive index. The <strong>difference in refractive index causes the light to bounce repeatedly off the cladding<\/strong> and stay contained within the core.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Buffer Coating: <\/strong>A plastic coating that protects the core and cladding from damage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The detector: <\/strong>At the receiving end, a photodetector converts the light pulses back into electrical signals that a computer or other device can understand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"418fca\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"812\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/three-major-parts-of-a-fibre-optic-cable-1024x812.png\" alt=\"three major parts of a fibre optic cable\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-53537\" style=\"--dominant-color: #418fca; width:458px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/three-major-parts-of-a-fibre-optic-cable-1024x812.png 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/three-major-parts-of-a-fibre-optic-cable-300x238.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/three-major-parts-of-a-fibre-optic-cable-768x609.png 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/three-major-parts-of-a-fibre-optic-cable.png 1380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/04-06-2022\/international-telecommunication-union\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/04-06-2022\/international-telecommunication-union\">International Telecommunication Union (ITU)<\/a><\/strong> and the <strong>International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC)<\/strong> jointly launched the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience.\u00a0<br>1. This initiative aims to<strong> strengthen the resilience of submarine cables.<\/strong><br>&#8211; The Advisory Body will also provide <strong>strategic guidance<\/strong> to address challenges related to<strong> increasing traffic, aging infrastructure, and growing environmental threats<\/strong> to submarine cables.<br><strong>International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC)<\/strong><br>&#8211; ICPC,<strong> founded in 1958<\/strong>, is a global forum for governments and commercial entities involved in the submarine cable industry.\u00a0<br>&#8211; <strong>Its primary mission<\/strong> is to enhance the security of undersea cables by providing a platform for exchanging technical, legal, and environmental information.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ddnews.gov.in\/en\/undersea-cable-cuts-in-red-sea-disrupt-internet-in-asia-and-middle-east\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>D News<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Undersea cable damage in the Red Sea has slowed internet access across several countries in Asia and the Middle East, including India.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>What are Submarine Cables?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Definition: Submarine cables are fiber optic cables laid on the ocean floor, connecting two or more landing points across countries and continents.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India\u2019s Role: India is a significant player in the global submarine cable network, with 17 international cables and 14 landing stations in cities like Mumbai and Chennai.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">As of the end of 2022, the total lit capacity and activated capacity of these cables stood at 138.606 Tbps and 111.111 Tbps, respectively.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Significance: Submarine cables form the backbone of the global digital economy, carrying over 99% of international data exchange.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/09-09-2025\/submarine-cables\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/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-53535","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\/53535","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=53535"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53694,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53535\/revisions\/53694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}