[Tech Talk] Who Built All Those Internet Cables?

Google, MS, Amazon, Meta and Other Big Four Big Tech
Private Companies Control Half of Submarine Cables
'Peaceful Era' Sparks Private Investment Boom

The British pound and the US dollar currency pair is called the "cable." Yes, it refers to the undersea cable. In the 1850s, through communication lines laid between the two countries, investors from both sides were able to trade each other's currencies, and "cable" became a slang term in the foreign exchange industry referring to the pound/dollar currency pair.

LS Cable representatives are inspecting submarine cables at the Donghae plant. [Image source=LS Cable]

The undersea cable invented in the 19th century has now become a core infrastructure that carries almost all data worldwide. It is no exaggeration to say that the internet we enjoy is entirely laid under the sea. So, who exactly built these undersea cables?

Undersea Cables That Could Wrap Around the Earth 30 Times

Google's 'Grace Hopper' ship setting sail to install underwater communication cables. [Image source=Google homepage]

Today, the total length of undersea cables laid on Earth is 750,000 miles (1,207,008 km). This is enough to wrap around the Earth's circumference nearly 30 times. In fact, undersea cables are still rapidly increasing in number.

On the 11th of this month (local time), Google announced an investment of $1 billion (about 1.38 trillion KRW) in an undersea internet cable project connecting Japan and the United States. Two cables will be laid, running from the Japanese archipelago through Guam and Hawaii to the US. Each will be at least several thousand kilometers long.

People often think that our internet is based on data centers, i.e., the cloud, but in reality, the true "backbone" of the internet is the undersea cable. Data moves through these cables, enabling data centers worldwide to operate.

Four Big Tech Companies Control 50% of Global Cables

The difference in the number of submarine cables between 1999 (above) and 2020. About half of the cables installed over the past 20 years were invested in by the four major US big tech companies. [Image source=Telegeography]

As a result, undersea cables have grown explosively since the early 2000s, when the era of optical communication began. Moreover, most of the undersea cables are invested in and owned not by governments or public institutions but by private companies. Comparing the number of international undersea cables in 1999 with those in 2020 clearly shows this difference.

The companies that have greatly benefited from the dawn of the internet era?Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon?are behind the cable investments. According to data from the undersea cable market analysis firm "TeleGeography," about half of the global undersea cable bandwidth is owned or leased by these four big tech companies mentioned above.

The "Peaceful Era" Sparked a Boom in Private Cable Investment

According to the World Bank, currently, 15% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is based on the internet. As of 2020, the world economy was worth $85 trillion (about 11,746.1 trillion KRW), so at least $12.75 trillion (about 1,761.9 trillion KRW) depends on undersea cables. It might feel somewhat unsettling that half of this enormous infrastructure is owned or leased by just four private companies.

The reason private companies could expand undersea cable construction projects so rapidly is that the period from 2000 to 2020 was relatively peaceful. If certain countries or organizations had recognized undersea cables as strategic assets and regulated their installation within national territorial waters, such rapid growth would have been impossible. The development of the internet economy would have also been slower.

A More Dangerous World... Could the Internet's Golden Age Be Threatened?

The surface of the sea at the time of the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion connecting Russia and Germany. Maritime countries in Europe are pointing to Russia as the party behind this incident. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

However, now there is growing awareness of the importance of undersea cables and increasing attempts to exploit them maliciously. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia, which faces strong economic sanctions from the West, has openly threatened "undersea cable security."

In fact, Russia has long operated nuclear-powered submarines for undersea operations called "special purpose submarines." These submarines can carry deep-sea exploration vessels and robots and, if necessary, can cut undersea cables or gas pipelines. Countries like the UK and Norway, whose economies depend on undersea cables and pipelines, have also begun preparing for this threat.

Houthi rebels, who are based in the Yemen region, are also suspected of sabotaging the Red Sea submarine communication cables.
[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

The threat from terrorists cannot be ignored either. There have been multiple concerns that the Houthi Islamic rebels in Yemen, who have been carrying out indiscriminate attacks on civilian merchant ships in the Red Sea region, might target undersea cables. In fact, last month, reports emerged that three communication and internet cables in the Red Sea region were found cut, and the Houthis are suspected to be the main perpetrators.

Behind the development of high-speed internet were the rise of big tech, the stabilization of global affairs, and the (implicit) cooperation of countries. But now, discord among countries is growing, and some have begun to view undersea cables not as "public assets" but as potential threats. Perhaps the flames of war igniting here and there could end the golden age of the digital era that has lasted for 20 years.