undersea Internet cables

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The Internet as We Know It Depends on 22 Ships
The Internet
as We Know It
Depends on
22 Ships
longform
May 18, 2024 8:00 AM CDT

The Internet as We Know It Depends on 22 Ships

Inside the world of undersea cable repair

(Newser) - When you think of what lurks in the ocean's depths, fiber-optic cables probably don't come to mind. They should. As Josh Dzieza reports in a lengthy piece for the Verge , there are some 800,000 miles of these cables running through our oceans that keep the world as...

Red Sea Chaos Exposes New Vulnerability: the Internet
Red Sea Chaos Exposes
New Vulnerability: the Internet
the rundown
Mar 4, 2024 12:37 PM CST

Red Sea Chaos Exposes New Vulnerability: the Internet

Big disruptions reported overseas because vital undersea cables were cut

(Newser) - Lots of people overseas on Monday are getting a reminder that our digital world is heavily dependent on the not-so-digital infrastructure of giant undersea cables. Roughly 25% of internet traffic between Asia and Europe, as well as in the Middle East, has been disrupted because cables belonging to four major...

Broken Drilling Gear Has Facebook in Hot Water
Broken Drilling Gear
Has Facebook in Hot Water
in case you missed it
Aug 22, 2020 3:00 PM CDT

Broken Drilling Gear Has Facebook in Hot Water

Company left behind equipment off coast of Oregon after mishap

(Newser) - A drill bit ran into trouble and the drill pipe broke. And in this case, the drill bit was being used by Facebook to drill a hole off the coast of Oregon to hook up a transcontinental fiber-optic cable, reports the Oregonian . Now the controversial project in the small seaside...

Tiny Oregon Town Is Battling Facebook

They don't want to be landing spot for trans-Pacific undersea cable

(Newser) - A battle playing out in a tiny Oregon town with no stoplights or cellphone service is pitting residents against one of the world's biggest tech companies. Locals in coastal Tierra del Mar are trying to stop Facebook from using property in their quiet community to build a landing spot...

Facebook Has Lofty Goal in Undersea Cable Boom

It wants to encircle Africa in fiber optics, reports Wall Street Journal

(Newser) - Facebook plans to lasso the whole of Africa in underwater cable. The cable project dubbed Simba would encircle the continent, linking several spots on the eastern, western, and Mediterranean coasts in an effort to provide a more stable connection and lower bandwidth costs, people with knowledge of discussions tell the...

US Fears Russia's Intent With Deep Sea Comms Cables

Russian ships are skulking around underwater communications cables, stoking Western fears

(Newser) - US and Western officials are increasingly troubled by Russia's interest in the 400 fiber-optic cables that carry most of world's calls, emails and texts, as well as $10 trillion worth of daily financial transactions. "We've seen activity in the Russian navy, and particularly undersea in their...

How Russia Could Take Down Our Internet

Officials fear Russian subs will cut deep-sea Internet cables

(Newser) - American officials fear Russia might sever underwater Internet cables during a possible conflict, plunging the West—including its governments, economies, and citizens—into chaos. More than a dozen officials tell the New York Times that concerns over cable-cutting are being voiced at the Pentagon, particularly after Russian submarines and spy...

Internet Cable Will Span Atlantic to Thwart US Spying

It will guarantee Internet neutrality: Brazilian president

(Newser) - In the wake of Edward Snowden's NSA revelations, a fuming Brazil began plotting an undersea cable to reroute Internet traffic away from the US—and the plan is one that will come to fruition. Brazilian and EU officials yesterday agreed on the installation of an undersea communications cable that...

Scuba Divers Arrested for Trying to Sabotage Internet

May be connected to massive slowdown in Egypt

(Newser) - The Egyptian navy yesterday captured three scuba divers who were attempting to cut an undersea Internet cable , the AP reports. The military posted a photo of the three men, who were caught on a fishing boat near Alexandria in the Mediterranean Sea; it did not further have details on who...

Cuba's Celebrated Internet Cable MIA

Despite $70M project, access still terrible

(Newser) - It was all sunshine, smiles, and celebratory speeches as officials marked the arrival of an undersea fiber-optic cable they promised would end Cuba's Internet isolation and boost web capacity 3,000-fold. Even a retired Fidel Castro hailed the dawn of a new cyber-age. But more than a year after...

Cable Cut Takes Egypt Offline
 Cable Cut Takes Egypt Offline 
Dec 20, 2008 8:09 AM CST

Cable Cut Takes Egypt Offline

Broken connection off Sicily affect most of country

(Newser) - Egypt suffered a large-scale Internet outage after cables in the Mediterranean were cut, the Communications Ministry said yesterday. Three Internet cables were cut off the coast of the Italian island of Sicily yesterday morning, the ministry said. The cause of the cut was not immediately known. Throughout Egypt, the Internet...

Tech Giants Behave Like Nations
Tech Giants Behave Like Nations
OPINION
Feb 29, 2008 4:45 PM CST

Tech Giants Behave Like Nations

eBay boycott shows how 'social contract' can be mishandled

(Newser) - A comparison of two of this week’s big tech news stories, the end of an eBay boycott and Google’s announcement of the construction of a new trans-Pacific fiber optic cable, show how the tech giants have moved beyond old corporate paradigms, writes Michael Malone for ABC News. With...

2 Internet Cables Repaired
2 Internet Cables Repaired
Feb 12, 2008 7:48 AM CST

2 Internet Cables Repaired

Med and Persian Gulf damage repaired, says operator

(Newser) - Repairs are complete on two undersea Internet cables in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf that were cut last month, reports the AP. UK-based Fiber-optic Link Around the Glob (FLAG) said the Persian Gulf cable was cut by an abandoned anchor, but the other cable cut remained unexplained. The damage...

Anchor Cut Persian Gulf Internet Cable

Source unknown; severance raises questions of sabotage

(Newser) - The severed Internet cable in the Persian Gulf was the work of a 5.5-ton ship’s anchor, the AP reports. A crew from the FLAG telecommunications company, which owns the cable, found the anchor near Dubai and hauled it up; how the cut occurred is still unexplained. The incident...

Repairs Begin on Cut Net Cable
Repairs Begin on Cut Net Cable
Feb 5, 2008 6:18 AM CST

Repairs Begin on Cut Net Cable

Ship expected to reach 2nd severed undersea line today as well

(Newser) - Repairs have begun on a segment of undersea Internet cable reported severed off the coast of the United Arab Emirates last Friday, Reuters reports. FLAG, an Indian telecom, said that one of their ships had reached the cable, the most recently disrupted of three main lines to undermine access across...

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