Consider communicating with a friend who lives on the other side of the world. You press "send" on your phone, and in less than a second, your message is on its way to their device, traveling thousands of miles underwater and racing along cables as thin as a garden hose while avoiding sharks and shipwrecks. It sounds like magic, doesn't it? But it's true! And those cables belong to someone. However, who?
The Internet's Hidden Super-Highway
You might think your message flies through the air like a bird when you watch a video, send an email, or video call your grandmother in a different country. It may come as a surprise, but about 99% of all international internet traffic goes through cables that are buried in the ocean!
These wires are like the longest garden hoses in the world. They are stretched out across the ocean floor like spaghetti on a big plate. There are very thin glass fibers inside each cable that send and receive information as light pulses. Every second, millions of messages zoom back and forth.
At this very moment, more than 500 of these cables are swimming through our oceans, linking continents like invisible bridges. They're so important that the internet would not work at all if they disappeared tomorrow. There are no messages, videos, or online games at all!
So, Who Actually Owns These Ocean Cables?
This is where things get interesting. Most roads and bridges are built by the government. But most underwater internet cables are owned by private companies, not countries.
The Tech Giants Take the Lead
Most of these cables used to belong to big phone companies. So here are some owners who might surprise you today:
Many of the most important underwater cables in the world are now owned or co-owned by Google, Facebook (Meta), Microsoft, and Amazon. Yes, the same companies that give you search engines, social networks, and online shopping are also building the internet's core!
Why? Because every day these businesses have to move huge amounts of data. A huge number of people watch videos on YouTube, look through Instagram, and store files in the cloud. All of that data has to go somewhere. They can move data faster and cheaper if they own their own cables.
Google, for instance, has spent money on at least 20 different underwater cables. One cable goes from New York to Spain and England. It's called "Grace Hopper" after a famous computer scientist. Microsoft and Facebook built a cable called "Marea" that goes across the Atlantic Ocean and can carry 200 million calls at once!
Sharing is Caring (and Profitable)
It's cool that most cables aren't owned by just one company. Instead, a group of companies work together to make them and share them, like when friends split the cost of pizza. This way, everyone gets to use it and the huge cost is spread out (building one cable can cost $300–500 million!).
Groups of telecommunications companies own some cables. These are the companies that offer phone and internet services. Companies like AT&T, Orange, and Vodafone still own parts of many cables, especially older ones.
Countries Get Involved Too
Although the majority of cables are owned by private companies, governments are very concerned about them. Why? because crucial government messages, banking information, and secrets are carried by these cables. Some nations, particularly China, have begun making significant investments in cable construction in order to control their own data pathways and connect with other countries.
Consider it this way: if the internet is a highway system, nations want to ensure that they have their own roads and aren't entirely reliant on the routes of others.
How Do These Cables Get to the Bottom of the Ocean?
It's like an underwater adventure to build these cables! Imagine unrolling the longest ball of yarn in the world as special ships known as "cable-laying vessels" slowly move across the ocean, unreeling cable from enormous spools.
The cables are actually buried in the seabed by robots known as "plows" in shallow waters close to shores to shield them from fishing nets and ship anchors. The cables simply rest on the ocean floor in the deep ocean, which can be up to five miles below the surface.
The cables must be extremely durable. Similar to how you wrap a sandwich in several layers to keep it fresh, they are covered in layers of steel and protective coating. Why? because they are occasionally bitten by sharks! Researchers believe that the electric fields surrounding cables are mistaken for fish by sharks. There is a serious problem with shark attacks on internet cables!
What Happens When Cables Break?
Surprisingly, cables break around 100 times a year worldwide! They are dragged by ship anchors, shaken by underwater earthquakes, and yes, sometimes they are chomped on by sharks.
Special repair ships are sent to the scene like underwater ambulances when this occurs. Robots or divers locate the damaged area, pull up the cable (which may take several days), repair it, and then lower it again. The entire process can cost millions of dollars and take weeks.
The clever thing is that, because there are so many cables, the internet typically continues to function even in the event that one breaks. It's similar to having several routes to your home; if one is blocked, you can use a different one.
Why This Matters to You and Me
"Why should I care who owns some cables at the bottom of the ocean?" you may ask yourself. Excellent query! This is why it's important:
- Reliability and Speed: The speed and dependability of your internet are determined by the companies that own the cables. Everyone will benefit from faster, better internet with more cables.
- Security and Privacy: These cables carry your videos, pictures, and messages. The businesses that own them are required to keep your data safe from spies and hackers.
- Power and Control: The person in charge of the cables has vast influence over international communication. People are concerned about whether a large portion of the internet's infrastructure should be owned by one or two companies because of this.
- Economic Growth: Nations with strong cable connections are able to connect their citizens to the outside world, conduct more business, and educate more students online. Nations with poor connections fall behind.
The Future Beneath the Waves
Internet demand is skyrocketing. We send more messages, play more online games, and watch more videos each year. Businesses are constructing larger, faster cables to stay up.
Compared to cables from just 20 years ago, new cables made of special materials can carry 500 times as much data! Some businesses are even considering installing cables to link isolated islands and provide internet access to areas that have never had it before.
The Big Lesson
The next time you send a text, upload a picture, or view a funny cat video from a foreign nation, keep in mind that your data is most likely traveling through cables at the ocean's bottom, owned by a few strong tech companies that have constructed these amazing underwater highways.
Although the internet appears to be magical and invisible, it is actually very physical—made of steel, light, and glass—and is shielded from sharks by ships that stretch across the ocean floor. It connects all of us worldwide, making it one of humanity's most incredible engineering feats.
You now understand the secret: the internet is more than just a satellite or a cloud. It races along cables owned by businesses vying to link the world, one underwater highway at a time, while swimming far beneath the surface of the ocean.
You can then smile and respond, "Well, let me tell you about the tech giants, the ocean highways, and the sharks that bite them," the next time someone asks, "Who owns the internet cables under the ocean?"