Odd Lots Samanth Subramanian on the Undersea Cables That Keep the Internet Alive
29 snips
May 13, 2026 
Samanth Subramanian, author and journalist who wrote The Web Beneath the Waves, explains the hidden world of undersea fiber cables. He discusses how cables are surveyed, laid, repaired, and financed. He explores chokepoints like the Suez and Strait of Hormuz, why satellites cannot replace fiber, and the geopolitical and security tensions around this fragile infrastructure.
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Big Tech Now Funds Most New Cables
- Ownership shifted from state telecom consortiums to investor-led projects and now to big tech funding most new cables.
- By Samanth's research two-thirds of new cables were funded partly or wholly by Google, Meta, Amazon, or Microsoft.
Redundancy Keeps Traffic Flowing Despite Frequent Cuts
- There are 500–550 undersea cables and roughly 100 cable cuts per year, but redundancy prevents widespread outages.
- Cables cluster on busy routes (e.g., Western Europe–US, SE Asia) so other cables and land links absorb traffic when cuts occur.
Geography Dictates Cable Chokepoints
- Geography and seabed topography strongly determine cable routes, making chokepoints important.
- Routes favor canals and straits (Suez, Strait of Hormuz) and avoid underwater cliffs, currents, and volcanic zones like Tonga.
