![]() 5 Presently, modern cables are engineered to be heavy enough to rest on the seafloor without tangling but remain approximately the width of a garden hose (see figure 2). ![]() During the 1950s, it was not uncommon for whales to get tangled in lightweight telegraph cables. Their installation and maintenance alone can cause serious habitat disruptions, particularly to benthic species or larger mammals that traverse oceanic zones. The geographies of cable landing sites can be complex and have an impact on the surrounding environment. Demand for international bandwidth doubled from 2014 to 2016 and is steadily increasing. Large software companies like Facebook and Microsoft are also taking the plunge, investing in their own proprietary submarine cables. We are in the midst of a “cable boom,” as countries and telecommunication companies rush to supply bandwidth to users. As fiber optics and the World Wide Web have expanded, demand for cable use routes have grown and diversified. Increasing globalization cemented the need for reliable communication. Thus, as cable routes expanded they followed the trade routes of British colonial powers. The rubber was necessary for cable insulation. At first, telegram prices were so high that functional use was limited to government, business, or otherwise elite patrons.3 British colonial powers were primary drivers, incentivized by both improved communication with colonies and monopolized access to raw materials, namely rubber. In 1866, the first transatlantic cable opened the doors for telegraphic globalization and long-term social changes (see figure 1). They are a resource that has fueled globalization, enabling rapid communication over long distances. 2 Submarine cables have also been uniquely protected and promoted by international treaties since 1884. The first cable crossing relied on a single copper wire insulated with gutta-percha, a latex derivative, and has since evolved into fiber optics that can accommodate streaming video in the blink of an eye. 1 There are more than a million kilometers of cables linking every continent except Antarctica like threads in a web. Over 95 percent of all international communications are routed through submarine cables, which are an almost invisible infrastructure upon which global trade depends. The following document examines the evolution of submarine cables from the first transatlantic copper wire cable to the present fiber-optic cable boom through the legislative lens. Throughout history, legislative concerns surrounding submarine cables have shifted from colonial monopolies to environmental health and national security. Further, they are uniquely represented in state, federal, and international legislation. Despite their impact, they are seldom a matter of public interest or debate. Submarine cables represent an invisible yet crucial infrastructure that enable all manner of global communication. The market drivers that support development of this technology and opportunities and challenges that India offers to this industry are discussed.Unspooling the Legacy of Submarine Cables This paper aims to provide an insight into submarine power cable while differentiating it from a power cable used on land. Though there are several issues (such as complex and unclear regulations, few consulting firms to conduct sea floor surveys and availability of cable-laying ships) that could impede the growth of submarine power cables, under-construction and future projects due to the increasing demand for renewal energy from offshore energy sources are ensuring that the necessary expansion, diversification, development and use of these cables cannot be stopped. Rising energy prices and concerns about climate change in the mid-2000s brought about a forced development of deep-water renewal energy sources (such as wind, wave, tide, etc.) which in turn renewed the interest in submarine power cables as there was a need to transmit the generated power to land from out-in-the-ocean renewal energy installations. ![]() Though these cables have been in use since the early 1800s, their use was primarily limited to transmitting electricity from conventional sources such as coal plants, either between countries or out to islands or oil platforms. Submarine power cables are specialised power cables that are used to transport electric current at high voltage below the surface of water. ![]()
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