Photo of an undersea cable in cyprus.

Have you ever wondered where the cables go that connect your computer to web sites overseas? Well if you live in the USA and are visiting a website in Asia then the connection travels directly under gCaptain HQ in Morro Bay California on it’s way across the Southern Cross Cable. But if you live elsewhere then you need only to consult TeleGeography’s free interactive submarine cable map. The chart is based on authoritative Global Bandwidth research, and depicts active and planned submarine cable systems and their landing stations. Selecting a cable route on the map provides access to data about the cable, including the cable’s name, ready-for-service (RFS) date, length, owners, website, and landing points. Selecting a landing point provides a list of all submarine cables landing at that station.

Cables shown include international and US domestic submarine cables with a maximum upgradeable capacity of at least 5 Gbps. Cable routes are stylized to improve readability, and do not reflect the physical cable location. Similarly, cable landing stations do not show the precise coordinates of the building, and are meant to serve as a general guide to where a cable system lands.

While most charts will show the location of subsea cables, they often don’t differentiate between regular telephone lines and massive, high dollar, fiber-optic connections. So be sure to consult the map before anchoring you ship near a subsea cable or risk shutting down the internet of an entire continent. No seriously!

2010 Submarine Cable Map

TeleGeography’s popular Submarine Cable Map has been fully updated for 2010. The latest edition of our map depicts 111 of the world’s major submarine cable systems and 19 planned systems that are due to enter service by 2011. www.telegeography.com

We received email that our last quiz was just too easy so we challenge you to try this…. the above picture shows something carried aboard certain ships that’s critical to the future success of this website. What is it?

Hint: It’s being covered today in the newspapers of our 4th and 5th favorite cities.

Update

You can find the answer on our post: Cable Laying Ships – Back In Business