Undersea Cables Carry 95-99% of Intercontinental Internet Traffic as 570 Systems Span the Seabed
Updated
Updated · maketecheasier.com · May 31
Undersea Cables Carry 95-99% of Intercontinental Internet Traffic as 570 Systems Span the Seabed
2 articles · Updated · maketecheasier.com · May 31
95-99% of intercontinental internet traffic moves through submarine fibre-optic cables, while satellites handle only a small remainder; the claim applies to ocean-crossing data, not all internet activity.
570 submarine cable systems were in service in 2025, with 81 more planned, stretching well over 1 million kilometres and carrying data as light through hair-thin glass fibres.
Capacity and latency keep cables dominant: industry projections for 2026 put subsea capacity in the thousands of terabits per second versus only a few tens for all satellites combined.
Starlink's 7,000-plus satellites and other low-Earth-orbit networks have improved service for remote areas, ships, aircraft and disaster zones, but they still complement rather than replace cables.
Roughly 200 cable faults occur worldwide each year—mostly from fishing and anchors—yet repair fleets and the network's scale have kept the seabed as the backbone of global cross-ocean data.
With satellites and cables integrating, who will ultimately control the world's data flow: tech giants, governments, or a new hybrid power?
As nations build 'trusted' internet corridors for security, are they making the global network more fragile and easier to attack?