00:00Imagine you open YouTube and start watching a video.
00:02Within seconds, the video travels thousands of kilometers across oceans and appears instantly
00:07on your phone.
00:08But here is the surprising question, how does the internet travel under the ocean?
00:13Are there giant Wi-Fi towers in the sea, or do satellites and everything puffs waves?
00:17Hidden deep beneath the ocean floor are thousands of kilometers of cables, quietly carrying
00:22almost all of the world's internet.
00:23Believe it or not, around 95 to 99 percent of the international internet traffic travels
00:28through underwater cables called submarine cables.
00:31These cables stretch across oceans and connect continents, forming the backbone of the global
00:35internet.
00:36So what exactly are these cables?
00:38Submarine internet cables are special fiber optic cables that lie on the ocean floor.
00:42Inside them are extremely thin glass fibers, sometimes thinner than our human hair.
00:46Instead of electricity, these fibers carry data using pulses of light.
00:50At one end of the cable, powerful lasers convert internet data like messages, videos, or emails
00:56into tiny flashes of light.
00:57These flashes travel through the glass fibers at incredible speed until they reach the other
01:02end, where they are converted back into digital data.
01:05This means when you send a message, stream a movie, or play an online game, your data might
01:09actually travel across the ocean as light.
01:12Now you might wonder how can a cable carry information thousands of kilometers underwater without
01:17the signal getting weaker.
01:18To solve this, engineers place special devices called repeaters along the cable.
01:23These repeaters are like signal boosters placed every few dozen kilometers.
01:27They amplify the light signals so the data can continue traveling across the entire ocean
01:32without losing strength.
01:33Without these repeaters, the signal would fade before reaching the other continent.
01:37But installing these cables across oceans is a massive challenge.
01:40Special ships, known as cable-lying vessels, transport massive coils of cables and gradually
01:45lay them on the ocean floor.
01:47Engineers initially create detailed maps of the seabed to steer clear of mountains, deep
01:51trenches, or hazardous zones.
01:52As the ship progresses, the cable is carefully lowered into the water until it touches the
01:57ocean bottom.
01:58In deeper regions, it simply lies on the seabed but close to the shore.
02:01It is often buried beneath the sand to shield it from fishing gear or ship anchors.
02:06You might think these cables are enormous, but surprisingly, they are only about 2-3 centimeters
02:11thick, similar to the size of a garden hose.
02:13Despite their slim profile, they are constructed with several protective layers, including steel,
02:19insulation, and waterproof materials to endure the tough conditions of the ocean.
02:23Currently, there are over 600 submarine cables spanning the globe's oceans, totalling around
02:281.48 million kilometers in length.
02:30These cables link countries, data centers, and entire continents, enabling global communication.
02:35Some of the largest systems can transmit vast amounts of data enough to send millions of
02:40high-definition videos every second.
02:42Modern fiber-optic technology enables cables to transmit data at speeds, reaching hundreds
02:47of terabytes per second, which is why billions of people can access the internet simultaneously.
02:52However, these cables are not entirely secure.
02:55Occasionally, fishing nets, ship anchors, or underwater earthquakes can cause damage.
02:59In fact, a few submarine cables break somewhere in the world nearly every week.
03:03Nevertheless, engineers designed the network with multiple cables protecting the same areas.
03:08So if one fails, internet traffic can easily be rerouted through another cable.
03:12The next time you find us are watching a video, sending a message, or scrolling through social
03:16media, keep in mind something amazing.
03:18Pure data could be zipping along as beams of light through teeming glass fibers that are
03:22thousands of meters deep under the ocean.
03:24While the internet seems wireless, it is actually linked by a concealed web of cables that spans the
03:29whole globe, silently fueling the digital ring beneath the waves.
03:51of the internet is basically some Ukrainians.
03:52On the internet is absolutely large.
03:53But the awareness that I'm feeling is that it's very important in the current stream.
03:53It's actually an air space.
