Top 5 Submarine Cable News Stories Of 2023.

In 2023, Sub Tel Forum's newsfeed highlighted key events in the submarine telecommunications industry, revealing a significant public interest in the sector's challenges, particularly those affecting global connectivity. The top stories, as determined by viewer engagement, ranged from groundbreaking cable projects to incidents of cable damage that impacted internet services across various regions. These stories not only underscore the critical reliance on submarine cables for global internet infrastructure but also reflect the immediate impact of cable faults on connectivity, drawing more attention than advancements or new system announcements.

  1. South Africa Undersea Cables Break: The breaks in the WACS and SAT-3 undersea cables, triggered by a rock fall in the Congo Canyon, severely disrupted South Africa's connectivity, showcasing the challenges of quick repairs and the critical nature of these cables for internet speed.
  2. Four Cable Faults Impact Vietnam Telecoms: Vietnam's internet speeds were significantly hindered as four out of five undersea cables were damaged, leaving only one cable operational and illustrating the vulnerability of global connectivity to such faults.
  3. Google’s TPU Subsea Cable Revealed: Google unveiled the TPU subsea cable, an extensive 8,370-mile network designed to connect the US, Taiwan, Philippines, and Guam, targeting to satisfy the growing capacity demand in the Asia-Pacific region by May 2025.
  4. WACS Cable Undergoes Repairs Off African Coast: The West African Cable System (WACS) repair followed damage likely caused by subsea rockslides, affecting connectivity to Europe and impacting Telecom Namibia's internet services.
  5. Meta's 480Tbps US-Spain Anjana Submarine Cable: Meta's announcement of the Anjana cable, set to be the world's highest-capacity subsea cable by 2024, aims to connect northern Spain with the US east coast, offering a staggering 480Tbps capacity over 7,121km.

The predominance of stories about cable breaks and issues in 2023's top-viewed posts on Sub Tel Forum underscores the vital importance of reliable submarine cable networks and the public's keen interest in the stability and resilience of global internet infrastructure.

To read the complete article, check out Issue 134 of the Sub Tel Forum Magazine here

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