Why subsea cables are essential to business resilience [Q&A]

While businesses focus on cloud services and digital transformation, they often don't realize that their operations depend on the massive cable networks laid underwater.

Recent incidents have highlighted how critical these subsea cables are for business continuity, so do businesses need to rethink their approach to infrastructure as a result? We spoke to Sharat Sinha, director and CEO of Airtel Business to find out.

BN: Why have subsea cables become so critical to global connectivity?

SS: Subsea cables are the backbone of global internet connectivity. The infrastructure supports international high-speed internet connectivity & low latency. Carrying over 95 percent of the global data traffic, its unmatched bandwidth and scalability power AI, Cloud Computing, IoT, and other data-intensive applications. Subsea cables are also well equipped to support the modern global business environment; businesses like financial services, data centers, social media, etc. are dependent on subsea cables. Businesses that require real-time transfer rely on subsea cables for their seamless and resilient connectivity across the globe.

At Airtel, we recognize the critical need for a robust global footprint. This is backed by our vast network of 34+ subsea cables, with over 400,000+ route kms of subsea fiber, spanning 50 countries and 5 continents. We are committed to ensuring uninterrupted global connectivity for businesses worldwide and are continuously investing in expanding our network to meet the growing demand. Our new strategic investments include 2Africa, SJC2, SMW6 and Equiano.

BN: What are some of the innovations that have changed the industry in recent years?

SS: The very first subsea cable laid in the 19th century and over the year’s subsea cable technology has witnessed major innovations, editions, to enhance speed, efficiency, and resilience. As demand grew, the capacity of subsea cables have renovated to support the growth, from 3-4Tbps to 12-15Tbps, the bandwidth has increased over the last few years. The industry has recently introduced open cable systems that allows multiple operators to share fiber pairs, improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

AI-integration on subsea network has additionally helped in downtime prediction, preventing faults, overall enhancing network resilience. To cater to the modern business ecosystem, subsea cables are continuously innovating on modulation and multiplexing which allows data transfer by multiplying the capacity of subsea cables. Forward Error Correction (FEC) can reconstruct data if corrupted amidst transfer. At Airtel, we continue to invest in next-gen subsea cable systems, ensuring our customers have access to cutting-edge connectivity solutions.

BN: Why are these cables currently under threat?

SS: Subsea cables are prone to physical, breach of cybersecurity, and operational challenges. Over 100-150 cables fault annually, and this causes disruption as repairing the subsea cables are time and cost consuming. Activities like fishing, natural disasters, or ship anchors can cause physical damage to a subsea cable. Another threat is of cybersecurity breach as subsea cables support global large-scale data transfers, they are a prime target for cyberattacks.

Geopolitical tensions and permit issues in regions like the Red Sea and the South China Sea, can also hamper the subsea cables network leading to disruption. Another example of how seamless data transfer can be affected is simply congestion on certain high-traffic routes such as Strait of Malacca, or Egypt, which poses congestion issues and additional cost implications, as every circuit activation on cables passing through the region incurs a fee. With over 400 active subsea cables worldwide, monitoring and securing them remains a logistical and technical challenge.

To deal with physical disruption, dependency on multiple subsea cables across critical routes can enhance resilience. AI-integration and Redundant cable landing stations (CLS) can monitor real-time and prevent failures, enabling faster recovery respectively. Robust cybersecurity measures, including encryption and continuous threat monitoring, safeguard data integrity. Additionally, a hybrid network architecture integrating fiber, cloud, and terrestrial networks ensures a stronger, more reliable digital infrastructure.

At Airtel, we have built our global network with diverse subsea routes, operate at least three cables per major path, and continuously invest in expanding our infrastructure to safeguard connectivity.

BN: How should companies look at diversifying their infrastructure for greater resilience?

SS: The world is shifting towards digital infrastructure and to support to this growth companies must build resilient network. Global data transfer is witnessing an all-time high demand, subsea cables are the skeleton to this network, and hence should rely on multiple routes across different geographies to prevent single points of failure.

These risks can be mitigated through strategically ensuring bypass solutions to safeguard legacy infrastructure – this is done by offering a minimum of three diversity, optimizing network efficiency and reliability with minimal cable overlap. These bypass solutions both entail alternate subsea paths as well as hybrid paths combining subsea and terrestrial connectivity.

Maintaining a healthy cable mix is also essential in terms of keeping multiple paths between destinations to ensure diversity. Complementing this, having the right partner with a strong global footprint and partner ecosystem is increasingly critical when it comes to mitigating risks, diversity and bypass solutions to protect network investments, and ensure maximum reach and reliability.

At Airtel, our vision is to ensure redundancy and hence our robust subsea network. We continue to expand our cable landing station infrastructure and subsea cable footprint to enhance connectivity resilience.

BN: What about alternative connections -- satellite links, for example?

SS: Satellite technology plays a crucial role in connectivity, however, it does not take away the important role that subsea cables play in this space.

Fiber-optic subsea cables offer higher capacity with low latency, making them a reliable option for real-time applications like financial trading, IoT, and cloud computing. Subsea cables are also commercially more effective since satellite networks are costlier than than fiber-optic cables.

That said, satellites can complement subsea infrastructure by enabling connectivity in remote or hard-to-reach areas. As an industry pioneer, we are actively exploring investments and partnerships in satellite solutions to strengthen our overall infrastructure.

We will continue to invest in high-capacity subsea cable systems while also focusing on satellite advancements, ensuring a robust, future-ready network for businesses across the globe.

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