GetWiki

{{short description|Communications cable across the Atlantic}}{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2014}}A transatlantic telecommunications cable is a submarine communications cable connecting one side of the Atlantic Ocean to the other. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, each cable was a single wire. After mid-century, coaxial cable came into use, with amplifiers. Late in the 20th century, all cables installed used optical fiber as well as optical amplifiers, because distances range thousands of kilometers.

History

When the first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid in 1858 by Cyrus West Field, it operated for only three weeks; a subsequent attempt in 1866 was more successful. On July 13, 1866 the cable laying ship Great Eastern sailed out of Valentia Island, Ireland and on July 27 landed at Heart's Content in Newfoundland, completing the first lasting connection across the Atlantic. It was active until 1965.JOURNAL, Guarnieri, M., The Conquest of the Atlantic, IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine, March 2014, 8, 1, 53–55/67, 10.1109/MIE.2014.2299492, Although a telephone cable was discussed starting in the 1920s,WEB, Elmore, Bart, January 2017: From the Transatlantic Telephone to the iPhone,weblink Origins, Ohio State University, 28 May 2021, to be practical it needed a number of technological advances which did not arrive until the 1940s.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} Starting in 1927, transatlantic telephone service was radio-based.Short-Wave System for Transatlantic Telephony, by Polkinghorn and Schlaack BSTJ, 1935TAT-1 (Transatlantic No. 1) was the first transatlantic telephone cable system. It was laid between Gallanach Bay, near Oban, and Clarenville, Newfoundland between 1955 and 1956 by the cable ship Monarch."Being First Telephone Cable to Connect Hemispheres". Popular Mechanics, March 1954, p. 114. It was inaugurated on September 25, 1956, initially carrying 36 telephone channels. In the first 24 hours of public service, there were 588 London–U.S. calls and 119 from London to Canada. The capacity of the cable was soon increased to 48 channels. Later, an additional three channels were added by use of C Carrier equipment. Time-assignment speech interpolation (TASI) was implemented on the TAT-1 cable in June 1960 and effectively increased the cable's capacity from 37 (out of 51 available channels) to 72 speech circuits. TAT-1 was finally retired in 1978. Later coaxial cables, installed through the 1970s, used transistors and had higher bandwidth. The Moscow–Washington hotline was initially connected through this system.

Current technology

All cables presently in service use fiber optic technology. Many cables terminate in Newfoundland and Ireland, which lie on the great circle route from London, UK to New York City, US.There has been a succession of newer transatlantic cable systems. All recent systems have used fiber optic transmission, and a self-healing ring topology. Late in the 20th century, communications satellites lost most of their North Atlantic telephone traffic to these low-cost, high-capacity, low-latency cables. This advantage only increases over time, as tighter cables provide higher bandwidth – the 2012 generation of cables drop the transatlantic latency to under 60 milliseconds, according to Hibernia Atlantic, deploying such a cable that year.WEB,weblink Building Networks for High-Speed Stock Trading - WSJ.com, Online.wsj.com, October 9, 2011, September 18, 2013, NEWS,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110911194258weblink">weblink dead, September 11, 2011, The $300m cable that will save traders milliseconds, The Daily Telegraph, London, September 11, 2011, September 18, 2013, Some new cables are being announced on the South Atlantic: SACS (South Atlantic Cable System)WEB,weblink Angola Cables to build the world's first submarine cable across the South Atlantic: Press Releases - NEC, and SAex (South Atlantic Express).WEB,weblink 16Tbit/s SAEx cable deal signed,

TAT cable routes

The TAT series of cables constitute a large percentage of all North Atlantic cables. All TAT cables are joint ventures between a number of telecommunications companies, e.g. British Telecom. CANTAT cables terminate in Canada rather than in the US.{| class="wikitable sortable"!Name!!In service!!Type!!Initial channels!!Final channels!!Western end!!Eastern end

TAT-1>					Newfoundland and Labrador>Newfoundland	Scotland

TAT-2>					Newfoundland and Labrador>Newfoundland	France

TAT-3>					New Jersey>|England

TAT-4>					New Jersey>|France

TAT-5>					Rhode Island>|Spain

TAT-6>					Rhode Island>|France

TAT-7>					New Jersey>|England

TAT-8>		Optical fiber>Fiber-optic	40,000	–	New Jersey	England, France

TAT-9>		Optical fiber>Fiber-optic			New Jersey, Nova Scotia>|Spain, France, England

TAT-10>		Optical fiber>Fiber-optic			|Germany, Netherlands

TAT-11>		Optical fiber>Fiber-optic			New Jersey>|France

TAT-12/13>		Optical fiber>Fiber-optic			|England, France

TAT-14>		Optical fiber>Fiber-optic			New Jersey × 2>|England, France, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark

CANTAT-1>					Newfoundland and Labrador>Newfoundland	Scotland

CANTAT-2>					Nova Scotia>|England

CANTAT-3>		Optical fiber>Fiber-optic			Nova Scotia>|Iceland, Faroe Islands, England, Denmark, Germany

PTAT-1>		Optical fiber>Fiber-optic			New Jersey & Bermuda>|Ireland & England

Private cable routes

There are a number of private non-TAT cables.{| class="wikitable sortable"! Cable name! Ready for service! Cable length (km)! Nominal capacity! Latency (ms)! Landing points! Owner

Gemini (submarine communications cable)>Gemini (decommissioned)| May 1998||| under 100 ms	Charlestown, Rhode Island>Charlestown, United States	-Rhode Island>RI; Oxwich Bay, United Kingdom	-Wales>WLS; south: Manasquan, New Jersey	, United States>US-New Jersey	; Porthcurno, United Kingdom>GB-ENG	Vodafone (originally Cable & Wireless Worldwide>Cable & Wireless)

AC-1 (cable system)>AC-1| May 1998| 14,301 km| 120 Gbit/s| 65 ms	Brookhaven, New York>Brookhaven, United States	-New York (state)>NY; Whitesands Bay, United Kingdom	-England>ENG; Beverwijk, Netherlands	-North Holland>NH; Sylt, Germany	-Schleswig-Holstein>SH| Lumen Technologies (originally Global Crossing)

| Columbus III| December 1999| 9,833 km||

Hollywood, Florida>Hollywood, United States	-Florida>FL; Ponta Delgada (Azores), Portugal	; Carcavelos, Portugal>PT; Conil de la Frontera, Spain	-Andalusia>AN; Mazara del Vallo (Sicily), IT| various telecom operators

Yellow (cable system)>Yellow/AC-2| September 2000| 7,001 km| 640 Gbit/s| under 100 ms	Bellport, New York>Bellport, United States	-New York (state)>NY; Bude, United Kingdom	-England>ENG| Lumen Technologies

| Hibernia Atlantic| April 2001| 12,200 km

	PUBLISHER=LIGHT READING, August 13, 2009, | 59 ms	Lynn, Massachusetts>Lynn, United States	-Massachusetts>MA; Herring Cove, Nova Scotia	, Canada>CA-Nova Scotia	; Dublin, Ireland>IE-Leinster	; Southport, United Kingdom>GB-England	; Coleraine, United Kingdom>GB-NIR| GTT Communications, Inc. (originally Hibernia Networks)

Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe>FLAG Atlantic| June 2001| 14,500 km|| under 100 ms	Island Park, New York>Island Park, United States	-New York (state)>NY; Plerin, France	-Brittany>BRE; Skewjack, United Kingdom	-England>ENG; Northport, New York	, United States>US-NY| Global Cloud Xchange (Reliance Communications)

TGN Atlantic>Tata TGN-Atlantic| June 2001| 13,000 km| 5.1 Tbit/s| under 100 ms	Wall Township, New Jersey>Wall Township, United States	-New Jersey>NJ; Highbridge, Somerset	, United Kingdom>GB-ENG	Tyco International>Tyco to Tata Communications in 2005

Apollo (submarine communications cable)>Apollo| February 2003| 13,000 km| 3.2 Tbit/s| under 100 ms	Manasquan, New Jersey, United States>US-New Jersey	; Lannion, France>FR-Brittany	; Bude, United Kingdom>GB-England	; Shirley, New York>Shirley, United States	-New York (state)>NY	Vodafone (originally Cable & Wireless Worldwide>Cable & Wireless)HTTP://WWW.FCC.GOV/DOCUMENT/SUBMARINE-CABLE-ACTIONS-TAKEN-PN-5>TITLE=SUBMARINE CABLE ACTIONS TAKEN PN	DATE=OCTOBER 4, 2012,

| Greenland Connect| March 2009| 4,780 km||

Milton, Newfoundland and Labrador>Milton, Canada	-Newfoundland and Labrador>NL; Aasiaat, Greenland	-Qaasuitsup>QA; Sisimiut, Greenland	-Qeqqata>QE; Maniitsoq, Greenland	-Qeqqata>QE; Nuuk, Greenland	-Sermersooq>SM; Qaqortoq, Greenland	-Kujalleq>KU; Landeyjar, IS| TELE Greenland

| Hibernia Express| September 2015| 4,600 km||

Halifax, Nova Scotia>Halifax, Canada	-Nova Scotia>NS; Cork (city)	, Ireland>IE-Munster	; Brean, United Kingdom>GB-ENG| GTT Communications, Inc. (originally Hibernia Networks)

| AEConnect (AEC-1)| January 2016| 5,522 km| 4 × 10 Tbit/s (four strand 100 × 100 Gbit/s)| 54 ms

Shirley, New York>Shirley, United States	-New York (state)>NY; Killala, Ireland	-Connacht>C| Aqua Comms

| MAREA| February 2018| 6,600 km| 160 Tbit/s|

Virginia Beach, Virginia>Virginia Beach, United States	-Virginia>VA; Bilbao, Spain	-Basque Country (autonomous community)>PV| Facebook (25 %), Microsoft (25 %), Telefónica (50 %)

| Midgardsormen| Q2 2019 (planned)| 7,848 km||

Virginia Beach, Virginia>Virginia Beach, United States	-Virginia>VA; Blaabjerg, Denmark	; Mo i Rana, Norway>NO| Midgardsormen

Dunant (submarine communications cable)>Dunant|September 2020 (live)|6,400km|250 Tbit/s|

Virginia Beach, Virginia>Virginia Beach, United States

-Virginia>VA; Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, FR

GoogleHTTPS://VENTUREBEAT.COM/2019/04/24/HOW-GOOGLE-IS-BUILDING-ITS-HUGE-SUBSEA-CABLE-INFRASTRUCTURE/

LAST=SAWERS

DATE=APRIL 24, 2019

ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20190425163121/HTTPS://VENTUREBEAT.COM/2019/04/24/HOW-GOOGLE-IS-BUILDING-ITS-HUGE-SUBSEA-CABLE-INFRASTRUCTURE/

URL-STATUS=LIVE

LAST=LI

DATE=APRIL 5, 2019

9TO5GOOGLE>ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20190425163227/HTTPS://9TO5GOOGLE.COM/2019/04/05/GOOGLE-DUNANT-UNDERSEA-FIBER-CABLE/

URL-STATUS=LIVE, April 25, 2019,

| Havfrue, including America Europe Connect-2 (AEC-2) branch| December 2020| 7,851km| 108 Tbit/s|

New Jersey, United States>US; Dublin, Republic of Ireland	; London, United Kingdom>UK; Amsterdam, Netherlands	; Blaabjerg, Denmark>DK; Kristiansand, NO	AquaCommms, Bulk Infrastructure, Facebook and GoogleHTTPS://WWW.DATACENTERDYNAMICS.COM/EN/NEWS/AQUA-COMMS-PLANS-HAVFRUE-TRANSATLANTIC-CABLE-NETWORK-FUNDED-BY-FACEBOOK-GOOGLE/	WORK=DATA CENTER DYNAMICS	AUTHOR=TANWEN DAWN-HISCOX,

Grace Hopper (submarine communications cable)>Grace Hopper| September 2022| 6,000km|352 Tbit/s|	New York City>New York, US; Bude, UK; Bilbao, Spain	GoogleHTTPS://CLOUD.GOOGLE.COM/BLOG/PRODUCTS/INFRASTRUCTURE/ANNOUNCING-GOOGLES-GRACE-HOPPER-SUBSEA-CABLE-SYSTEM	LAST=KOLEY	DATE=JULY 28, 2020		LAST=LARDINOIS	DATE=JULY 28, 2020, TechCrunch,

Amitié (submarine communications cable)>Amitié| July 2023| 6,600km|320 Tbit/s|	Lynn, Massachusetts, United States>US; Bude, UK; Le Porge, France		WORK=TOTALTELE, 8 February 2021,

South Atlantic cable routes

{| class="wikitable sortable"! Cable name !! Ready for service !! Length !! Landing points !! Owner

Atlantis-2 >			Carcavelos, Portugal>PT; El Médano, Spain	-Canary Islands>CN; Praia, Cape Verde	; Dakar, Senegal>SN; Fortaleza, Brazil	-Ceará>CE; Las Toninas, Argentina	-Buenos Aires Province>B	various telecom operators

EllaLink >			Sines, Portugal>PT; Fortaleza, Brazil	-Ceará>CE; Santos, São Paulo	, Brazil>BR-São Paulo (state)	>| Telebras, IslaLink

SACS (cable system)>SACS	Q3 2018	6,165 km	Fortaleza, Brazil	-Ceará>CE; Luanda, Angola	>| Angola Cables

SAIL_(cable_system)>SAIL	Q4 2018	5,900 km	Fortaleza, Brazil	-Ceará>CE; Kribi, Cameroon	>| Camtel, China Unicom

See also

• Cable layer
• List of international submarine communications cables

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• JOURNAL, Jeremiah, Hayes, A history of transatlantic cables, IEEE Communications, September 2008, 46, 9, 42–48, 10.1109/MCOM.2008.4623705,
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130724101651weblink">Aronsson's Telecom History Timeline
• Timeline of Submarine Communications Cables, 1850–2016
• Submarine Cable Landings Worldwide

{{Transatlantic telephone cables}}{{Telecommunications}}