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Why Submarine Cables Are Still Needed When Satellites Provide Internet

Submarine cables carry the internet’s intercontinental backbone; satellites extend access to remote places and moving platforms. Each fills a different role.
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Submarine fiber-optic cables are still needed because they carry the bulk of the world’s high-volume data between continents, while satellites extend internet access to places and moving platforms that terrestrial networks struggle to reach. They do different jobs, and the global internet relies on both.

What role do submarine cables play?

Submarine cables are fiber-optic links laid across the seafloor and connected to terrestrial networks at cable landing points. They form a major part of the intercontinental backbone: the infrastructure that moves data between national networks, cloud services, businesses, and internet providers.

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The scale of their role is reflected in two estimates that describe different things. NOAA says more than 95 percent of international data and voice transfers route through seafloor fiber-optic cables; its page cites a 2009 UNEP-WCMC report, so this should not be read as a new measurement. The ITU’s backgrounder, last updated in April 2026, says submarine cables carry approximately 99% of the world’s Internet traffic. The estimates have different wording and provenance, and should not be treated as the same precise statistic. NOAA; ITU.

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The network is continually built and maintained. The ITU backgrounder, citing industry and cable-system sources, reports more than 500 active and planned telecommunication submarine cable systems as of 2024, nearly 200,000 km of new submarine cables installed in 2024, and over 170 cable repairs worldwide in 2025—nearly four a week on average. These are separately dated figures, not a count of cables carrying traffic at one moment. ITU.

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Why not send all intercontinental traffic by satellite?

Satellite internet is a valuable way to deliver a connection where cables and other terrestrial networks do not reach. But providing coverage is not the same as replacing the high-capacity links that carry large volumes of data between continents. Satellites can connect remote communities and platforms at sea or in the air; submarine cables move enormous quantities of traffic along fixed routes between network hubs.

A useful historical comparison illustrates the difference in network roles, not today’s product specifications. A 2023 USITC report using 2021-era evidence cited Google’s Dunant cable at more than 250 terabits per second of design capacity, compared with 10.3 Tbps for Starlink and 1.4 Tbps for OneWeb. Those figures are dated and should not be read as current capacity measurements or as a universal comparison of all cable and satellite systems. USITC report.

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Where do satellites have the advantage?

Satellites can serve locations where extending terrestrial infrastructure is difficult or uneconomic, and they can keep users connected while they move. The ITU-hosted satellite article describes coverage across land, sea, and air. It is written by Zachary Rosenbaum, an SES executive, so its perspective on the industry should be understood in that context. ITU-hosted article.

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“Satellite” is not one uniform service. Geostationary (GSO) satellites have a broad footprint, while non-geostationary (non-GSO) systems can offer lower-latency potential and cover smaller areas per satellite. Actual service depends on the system and application; it is inaccurate to claim that every satellite connection always has higher latency. The ITU-hosted article explains these architectural differences, though its plans and future-tense details date from 2020. ITU-hosted article.

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How do the technologies compare?

Factor Submarine fiber cables Satellite internet
Typical network role High-volume links in the intercontinental backbone between terrestrial networks. Access to users and platforms that terrestrial networks do not readily reach.
Geographic reach Fixed routes joining cable landing points; traffic must connect to terrestrial networks at those points. Can serve remote land locations and moving platforms at sea or in the air.
Latency and coverage The cited sources do not provide a general latency comparison with satellite services. Varies by orbit and system: GSO offers a broad footprint; non-GSO systems have lower-latency potential and smaller per-satellite coverage, according to the ITU-hosted 2020 article.
Capacity evidence USITC’s dated example: Dunant above 250 Tbps design capacity, using 2021-era evidence in a 2023 report. USITC’s dated examples: Starlink 10.3 Tbps and OneWeb 1.4 Tbps, using 2021-era evidence in a 2023 report.
Resilience concern Physical damage or dependence on a small number of routes can disrupt connectivity. Can provide an alternate way to reach users, but the cited sources do not establish satellite links as a full-capacity replacement for damaged cable routes.

Capacity figures are not a complete service comparison: the systems have different network roles, coverage patterns, and architectures. USITC; ITU-hosted article.

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What happens when a submarine cable is damaged?

Cables are vulnerable to fishing activity, ship anchors, earthquakes, underwater landslides, and tsunamis. Damage may take time to locate and repair, and regions that depend on only a few systems can be especially exposed. The ITU’s April 2026 backgrounder describes these hazards and repair concerns. ITU.

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Resilience depends not only on repairing a cable, but also on avoiding single points of failure: diverse routes and landing points, monitoring and mitigation, and reliable repair arrangements all matter. In a July 2026 release, the ITU described its Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience recommendations as a roadmap focused on deployment and repair, monitoring and mitigation, and connectivity and geographic diversity. ITU release.

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Which technology will win over time?

There is no single winner because the technologies solve different parts of the connectivity problem. Cables are suited to carrying bulk intercontinental traffic; satellites can extend access to remote places and moving users, and may offer an alternate route for connectivity. The balance will vary by geography and use case, but the cited evidence does not support treating satellite internet as a full substitute for submarine cable capacity.

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