Submarine communications cable

A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean. The first submarine communications cables, laid in the 1850s, carried telegraphy traffic. Subsequent generations of cables carried telephone traffic, then data communications traffic. Modern cables use optical fiber technology to carry digital data, which includes telephone, Internet and private data traffic.Modern cables are typically 69 millimetres (2.7 in) in diameter and weigh around 10 kilograms per meter (7 lb/ft), although thinner and lighter cables are used for deep-water sections. As of 2010, submarine cables link all the world's continents except Antarctica.

Submarine cables are laid using special cable layer ships, such as the modern René Descartes, operated by Orange Marine.