\u201cThe duel largely mirrors what we see in other areas of the global economy,\u201d says Matthew Bloxham, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. \u201cThe US and China are competing for influence over countries and regions that aren\u2019t tied exclusively to either superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n
Governments worry about more than just strategic rivalry. Much of the global network lies unguarded and beyond the control of any single state, and physical access to cables allows not only for accidents \u2014 some 200 a year \u2014 but also for espionage, sabotage, and disruption. Even though there has been little direct evidence of wrongdoing, the sheer scale and exposed nature of the cable system has governments around the world scrambling to secure it.<\/p>\n
The threat is \u201cabsolutely real,\u201d says Trent Fulcher, CEO of Starboard Maritime Intelligence, an AI-powered platform that detects maritime security risks. In late September, he addressed a room of industry officials in Singapore, where the topic came up repeatedly over two days. Fulcher referenced certain incidents near Taiwan and the Baltic states. \u201cSome of it is publicized, some of it isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Inside of a Subsea Communication Cable ![\"Call](\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/graphics\/2025-us-vs-china-undersea-internet-cables\/img\/hover.svg\")
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Source: TeleGeography
Note: Subsea cables are designed differently based on various ocean environments.<\/p>\n
Landing points and shallow waters are where cables are most vulnerable, with the Hong Tai 58 incident underscoring the challenge of policing such zones. Collecting evidence and enforcing the law are difficult as \u201cgrey zone operations\u201d \u2014 coercive acts that stop short of war but target weak points like undersea cables \u2014 can be disguised as fishing accidents, Taiwan\u2019s Ministry of Digital Affairs told Bloomberg News.<\/p>\n
Similar incidents in Europe and the Red Sea have raised further alarm. In December 2024, a ship departing from the Russian port of Ust-Luga dragged its anchor 90 kilometers across the Gulf of Finland, severing five data and power cables and inflicting at least \u20ac60 million ($70 million) in damage. In 2023, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Telegram that if the West was behind the Nord Stream pipeline blasts in 2022, Moscow would have \u201cno constraints \u2014 even moral \u2014 left\u201d to destroy its enemies\u2019 undersea cables.<\/p>\n
How Damaged Cables Are Repaired <\/p>\n
Source: KDDI Cableships & Subsea Engineering Inc.<\/p>\n
Europe has responded by pouring money into new technologies. NATO has started using AI, deployed about 50 drones as part of its \u201cTask Force X\u201d initiative to track threats in the Baltic Sea and is weighing a similar program in the North Sea, according to a senior NATO official, who asked not to be identified as they were discussing internal plans. It\u2019s also invested in a company that produces submersible robots that use 3D printing to repair damaged cables.<\/p>\n
Last week, Denmark\u2019s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned<\/a> Danes to brace for more hybrid attacks, including the destruction of subsea cables, pointing to Russia as Europe\u2019s top security threat amid suspected drone sightings across Danish airports<\/p>\n China has also invested heavily in surveillance. In 2015, China State Shipbuilding Corp. announced<\/a> plans for a network of undersea sensors \u2014 dubbed the \u201cUnderwater Great Wall<\/a>\u201d \u2014 across the South China Sea, where Beijing has also restricted foreign firms from laying new cables.<\/p>\n Defending cables has also become an arena ripe for private weapons manufacturers. According to Richard Jenkins, the CEO of US maritime defense company Saildrone, navies and coast guards don\u2019t have enough manpower to fully oversee the protection of these cables. \u201cThat creates a huge vacancy for how we protect our oceans,\u201d Jenkins says.<\/p>\n Cable Fault Causes <\/p>\n On an average, there are approximately 200 faults per year on global subsea cable systems<\/p>\n Source: International Cable Protection Committee<\/p>\n The business model for new cable networks is being upended. The consortia backed by traditional telecommunication firms that had come together to build cable networks are being overshadowed as US tech giants assert their dominance. Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are funding their own subsea cables to secure guaranteed bandwidth, reduce long-term costs, and ensure reliable global connectivity tailored to their cloud and data-intensive services.<\/p>\n Amazon, for example, has ramped up cable capacity through projects like CAP-1, while Google last year announced a $1 billion<\/a> investment in digital connectivity to Japan, which includes subsea cables. Some argue that the biggest threat to the internet isn\u2019t malicious activity, but rather a shortage of digital capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real risk isn\u2019t sabotage, it\u2019s scarcity,\u201d Meta\u2019s global head of network investments Alex-Handrah Aime told Bloomberg News. \u201cThe reality is we need to create new corridors to connect these key areas and countries and regions of significant growth for Meta and we need to create more capacity to serve the AI age.\u201d<\/p>\n By 2040, the total length of the subsea cable network is expected to increase by 48% as new routes expand to meet AI-driven data needs, industry reports show<\/a>. Some worry that a new landscape dominated by big tech will create fresh vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n Installation of the SEA-ME-WE 5 submarine cable in La Seyne-sur-Mer, France, in March 2016. Photographer: Boris Horvat\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank warns against the concentration of data \u2014 some of it sensitive \u2014 under the stewardship of just a few entities. \u201cThis digital supply-chain dependency risk, coupled with the volume of data that hyperscalers control across multiple layers of the internet services stack, heightens the risk of a single point of failure,\u201d ASPI says.<\/p>\n Satellite networks such as Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink are also growing fast, providing crucial links for land-locked countries and areas not plumbed into cable networks. While they offer a fallback if subsea systems fail, they\u2019re nowhere close to a replacement.<\/p>\n Aitken, the retired British commodore who is now an associate researcher at policy think tank RAND Europe, says no effort is too small when it comes to protecting the modern economy\u2019s critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the Second World War, we bombed the hell out of roads and bridges, and in a coming conflict we shouldn\u2019t be surprised if those cables become targets,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n (Updates with warning from Denmark’s prime minister. An earlier version of the explainer corrected the description of undersea cable manufacturers and installers and amended the characterization of changes to the business model for new cable networks.) <\/p>\n Note: Mapped data from TeleGeography represents operational subsea cables and does not include planned cables except Meta\u2019s Project Waterworth, \u2014 which is currently being built. Data as of June 17, 2025.<\/p>\n Additional Photography by: Ibrahim Chalhoub\/AFP\/Getty Images and Jean-Sebastien Evrard\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Photos edited by: Yuki Tanaka Edited by: Malcolm Scott<\/a>Ingrid Fuary-Wagner<\/a>Shadab Nazmi<\/a>Jeremy Diamond<\/a> \t\t![\"Installation](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/-1x-1.jpg\")
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