Globe of submarine internet cables
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Trunk cables of the sample by design capacity, largest first; cables without capacity data at the end
Key points
The globe shows 113 trunk submarine cables linking countries and continents: 102 in service and 11 expected to launch in 2026. Almost all intercontinental internet traffic travels over submarine cables, while satellites remain a backup for now.
The most vulnerable spot is the Red Sea together with the transit through Egypt: 13 in-service cables of the sample pass here, almost all direct lines between Europe and Asia. If all of them failed, Sudan would be completely cut off on the sample's cables, Saudi Arabia would lose 92% of its cable links with other countries, and Italy, Greece and Turkey about three quarters.
The market is changing: of the 38 cables launched since 2020 or launching in 2026, 19 involve Google, Meta, Microsoft or Amazon. They account for 71% of the design capacity of the new cables for which it is known.
The figures in “Key points” are WhiteIndex calculations on this sample: the number of cables through a chokepoint and the share of lost links come from the significance model (see “About the data”), not from measurement.
Significance of chokepoints and hubs
Select a chokepoint or landing hub and press “Show significance”. The model will show which cables would be severed if that place failed and which countries would lose the most direct cable links with other countries. Several places can be selected at once.
Chokepoints
Seas and straits that many cables pass through. The number shows how many in-service cables of the sample pass there.
Landing hubs
Cities and coasts where many trunk cables come ashore. Taking a hub out severs every cable that lands there.
Click a cable, country, chokepoint or hub on the globe
Sea routes are schematic: real routes run differently, but through the same seas and straits.
About the data
Sample. 113 trunk cables linking continents or large regions — those in service as of October 2026 and those expected to launch in 2026. Several hundred submarine cables operate worldwide; short domestic and regional lines are not in the sample. The data was compiled by WhiteIndex from open sources: operator and manufacturer websites and press releases, regulatory filings, trade publications and Wikipedia. No data from commercial mapping services was used.
What is known about a cable. Landing points (to the city), year of launch, length, design capacity, number of fibre pairs and owners. Where sources disagree or no data exists, the field is left empty. Design capacity is the maximum the cable is built for; the capacity actually lit is usually lower.
Routes. Routes are drawn schematically: between landing points a cable follows the shortest arc, and where that crosses land it goes around by sea. Real routes run differently, but through the same seas and straits. Overland sections (transit through Egypt, Thailand, Panama) are dotted.
Chokepoints and hubs. A chokepoint is a stretch of sea that many cables pass through (the Red Sea, the Strait of Malacca and others); a cable counts as passing through it if its schematic route crosses that stretch. A hub is a coast where many cables come ashore; taking a hub out severs every cable section that lands there.
Significance. If the selected places fail, the model splits each cable into its surviving parts and counts which countries each country is still linked to over that cable. The loss indicator is the share of direct “cable — other country” links a country loses. Only in-service cables are counted. The model ignores regional cables, land lines, satellites and traffic rerouting, so the real loss of connectivity is usually smaller: this is an estimate of dependence, not a forecast of an outage.
Limitations. Landing points, the order of sections and the capacity of some cables are approximate: part of the data is not disclosed by the owners. For cables launching in 2026 the status may change.
WhiteIndex. Globe of submarine internet cables: trunk cables, chokepoints and their significance. Data: cable operators and industry sources, WhiteIndex sample, October 2026.
All sources
WhiteIndex sample as of October 2026
Source links for each cable are in its card.