Have you ever used the Internet? Like about 70% of the world, your answer is probably “of course”. Now, here’s another question: where did that Internet come from? The connection itself is likely provided, depending on where you’re accessing the Internet, by some type of local-area network (LAN). A home network, for example, connects all types of devices from personal computers to printers in a home to the Internet through an access point.
This, however, still doesn’t answer how that access point lets you see content from all over the world. Why can you see your homework for the day just as easily as streaming the Premier League from the U.K.? Information from anywhere in the world is transmitted almost instantly to your device for you to see. This seems like magic, and the reality is that the technology making all of this happen might as well be.
In the early 19th century, the invention of the telegraph made it possible to transfer data at very high speeds over long distances. As more and more cable was laid, the idea of connecting different countries and even continents by telegraph gained popularity, and by 1866, the first transatlantic telegraph cable was completed. The technology had now been established, and over the next several decades, cables connected every continent except Antarctica. However, the telegraph would not remain the most popular form of long-distance communication for long. In 1956, the first telephone lines across the Atlantic were inaugurated, and they soon followed the same rapid expansion seen with telegraph cables.
In the 1980s, the fiber-optic cable was developed. These cables, which transmit data by converting it into light signals that are then sent through thin strands of glass or plastic, revolutionized information transfer, with much higher bandwidth (the amount of data that can be transported at a time) and speed than the coaxial cables, which use conductors. Around the same time, another technology was being developed: the Internet. When the fiber-optic cable was invented, long-distance internet traffic was already possible, but now, that traffic could reach most parts of the world through the same cables used for telephones.
Today, these cables are still very much in operation and are an essential part of the world’s communication infrastructure. Over 800,000 miles of cables can be found at the bottom of oceans, and they are what make countless Internet services possible. This means the proper function of these cables is necessary, and they’re subject to vulnerabilities such as earthquakes, cyber-attacks, and even shark bites. Consequently, the maintenance and security of this network is constantly managed using advanced cybersecurity measures and technical repairs.
All of this happens far below the surface of the world’s oceans, and despite being the infrastructure that can link two parts of the world in a fraction of a second and enable the services we often take for granted, most of this vast network of cables is completely invisible. Next time you watch a video on YouTube, send texts on your phone, or research restaurants near you, you’ll know that whatever you’re seeing on your screen might well have come from tiny electrical signals traveling thousands of miles underwater.
