Samanth Subramanian Explains 2022 Tonga Cable Outage on Odd Lots

2 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · May 13

Samanth Subramanian used the 2022 Tonga outage to illustrate how a single break in undersea cables can sever internet access for an entire country.
On Odd Lots, he said the global internet still depends on fiber-optic lines laid across ocean floors rather than any truly wireless system.
His book, "The Web Beneath the Waves," argues that this network remains both vital and fragile, with routes shaped by chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Suez Canal.
Subramanian also described the system as surprisingly old-school—closer in logic to historic telegraph cables—and difficult to protect despite carrying the backbone of modern communications.

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