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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →When a submarine cable fails, internet traffic may shift to other working routes—but that does not guarantee uninterrupted service. Networks can send data over another undersea cable or a terrestrial link, if a usable route exists and has enough spare capacity. Otherwise, people may notice slower connections, higher latency, trouble reaching some services, or an outage.
How traffic finds another route
The internet is a collection of independently operated networks that exchange information about how to reach destinations. When a cable path becomes unavailable, network operators and routing systems can direct traffic through other networks and physical links. The replacement path might use another submarine cable or cross a neighboring country over land.
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Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is central to how networks exchange reachability information, but it is not a guarantee that every failure will be handled cleanly. The outcome depends on which routes are advertised and available, how networks have configured their policies and alternatives, and whether the chosen path can carry the traffic. Some operators use additional systems to assess alternative paths. Cloudflare’s explanation of its Orpheus routing system describes one approach; it should not be taken to mean every network uses the same method.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallAs the Internet Society’s 2024 East Africa outage report puts it, “The Internet is designed so that when one route does not work, traffic can be automatically rerouted via another.” The key qualification is that an alternate route must actually be available to a user’s network and destination.
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What users may notice
If the surviving routes have sufficient capacity, many users may not notice the fault. If they are longer, more congested, or unavailable to a particular provider or destination, service can degrade instead. Effects may include higher latency, slower downloads, reduced international capacity, intermittent access, or inability to reach particular services.
Different users can have different experiences during the same incident: providers may use different routes and upstream networks, and not all destinations are reached the same way. A route can still be working while being too constrained to handle all the traffic shifted onto it.
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Why rerouting can still mean congestion
Rerouting changes where traffic travels; it does not create new capacity. If many networks divert traffic onto the same remaining links, those links can become congested. A backup route therefore helps only to the extent that it can absorb the extra demand.
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This distinction was visible during the May 2024 East Africa outage: traffic moved onto other submarine routes, but the Internet Society reported congestion on routes that were not ready or able to carry the additional load. That was a capacity and resilience shortfall, not evidence that no rerouting took place. The report documents the incident and its varied impacts.
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What happened in the May 2024 East Africa outage
The Internet Society reported that SEACOM and EASSy were damaged off KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on 12 May 2024. Several East African networks shifted traffic to other routes, and service effects varied by country and provider. Operators cooperated to provide alternative connectivity, but the remaining routes experienced congestion.
All cables affected in that incident had been repaired by 3 June 2024, about three weeks after the damage. That is a record of this particular event, not a reliable estimate for future repairs: timing depends on the fault and the availability and scheduling of specialist vessels and personnel. Internet Society’s report provides the incident details.
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What makes a network more resilient
Resilience depends on whether a provider or region has independent routes, enough capacity on them, and ways to keep some traffic local. Useful factors to consider include:
- Route and geographic diversity: Independent paths and landing points reduce reliance on a single cable or vulnerable corridor.
- Spare capacity: Alternate submarine and terrestrial links need room for traffic diverted during a failure.
- Provider diversity: Multiple transit providers can reduce dependence on a single upstream network.
- Local interconnection: Internet exchange points can keep some traffic within a country or region instead of sending it over a distant international route.
- Caching and local hosting: Locally available content may remain accessible even when international connectivity is constrained.
- Repair readiness: Specialist vessels and crews must be available and able to reach the damaged cable.
The Internet Society’s 2025 policy brief on submarine-infrastructure resilience cites Bangladesh as an example: after a 2023 cable outage, terrestrial connectivity through India and locally cached content helped maintain internet services. It also identifies satellite links and portable communication units as potential hybrid backups, rather than prescribing a particular service or device.
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How much internet traffic depends on submarine cables?
Submarine cables carry an estimated 97–98% of the world’s intercontinental internet traffic, according to the Internet Society’s 2025 policy brief. The scale makes cable resilience important, but global totals do not tell you how well a particular country, provider, or connection can cope with one cable failure.
Cable counts also depend on the date and what is being counted. The Internet Society’s 2025 brief cites 570 commercial submarine cables as of 2025, with 81 more planned. Its 2024 report gives a different, earlier snapshot: about 559 cable systems spanning 1.5 million kilometers. These are date-specific figures, and planned cables should not be confused with systems already in service.
What to check when comparing providers or regions
No single cable count or universal score establishes resilience. A useful comparison asks whether alternate paths are genuinely independent and able to handle a surge in traffic:
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- Do routes and landing points avoid sharing the same chokepoint?
- Is spare capacity available on alternate submarine cables and terrestrial cross-border links?
- Does the provider rely on multiple, diverse transit networks?
- Can local exchanges and cached or locally hosted services keep some traffic nearby?
- Are repair vessels and personnel likely to be available for the relevant route?
These factors help explain why the same cable incident can cause a brief, barely noticed route change for one network and a major slowdown for another.
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