undersea cable to bypass US

[filbert]

Saw this the other day. Good news for those that mistrust US government intentions:
http://www.zdnet.com/were-building-u...pe-7000026743/

[Bob D]

Originally Posted by filbert

Saw this the other day. Good news for those that mistrust US government intentions.

Good luck with that.

National Security Agency launched Operation Ivy Bells, deploying fast-attack submarines and combat divers to drop waterproof recording pods on the lines. Every few weeks, the divers would return to gather the tapes and deliver them to the NSA, which would then binge-listen to their juicy disclosures.

http://www.theatlantic.com/internati...apping/277855/

[randian]

If they're fiber-optic cables you can't listen in. No RF to read, and you can't pierce the insulation to try and directly read the optical input without permanently damaging the cable.

In any case, you don't need to listen to the cable, you only need to listen at either end.

[n5bb]

Originally Posted by randian

If they're fiber-optic cables you can't listen in. ...

Actually, it's pretty simple to monitor a fiber optic line. Bending an optical fiber with a small enough bend radius will cause light to leak through the cladding, where it can be measured with an optical sensor. This is a common demonstration for those being introduced to the use of fiber optics, and the loss due to the leakage is widely used in various types of sensors based on bent optical fibers.

http://www.corning.com/WorkArea/down....aspx?id=36581

Bill

[Bamb0]

Originally Posted by filbert

Saw this the other day. Good news for those that mistrust US government intentions:

Good on them!!



Lets hope it lasts!!

[Tsunami]

Venezuela promised Cuba an underseas cable to improve speed and quality of internet, without Cuba depending on satellite connections. While in touch with the country regularly, I haven't heard massive signs of improvement of internet access, despite the cable being functional according to latest reports.

The idea of an underseas cable is a nice thought, but there are several reasons to be sceptic. Also, how vulnerable are those cables especially when you want to connect Brazil to Europe and have to cross the sometimes wild and stormy Atlantic Ocean? That's a whole difference to laying a cable between for example Ireland and the UK.

And what is the cost of crossing such a long distance with an underseas cable? This isn't comparable to that Cuban-Venezuelan cable, or to a cable connecting several Caribbean countries as was discussed and proposed in the past. The distance we talk about now is much much longer. Is that estimated cost mentioned in the article realistic? I mean, there are several such cables in operation but I cannot recall any attempt for a cable crossing such large distance. In a way, the chances of success are a guess at this moment.

I hope they succeed but I'm a bit sceptic. But good luck to this project.

[helpthecretins]

Because voting out unethical men impinges upon free time too much?

[DrStrabismus]

Originally Posted by Tsunami

The idea of an underseas cable is a nice thought, but there are several reasons to be sceptic. Also, how vulnerable are those cables especially when you want to connect Brazil to Europe and have to cross the sometimes wild and stormy Atlantic Ocean? That's a whole difference to laying a cable between for example Ireland and the UK.

And what is the cost of crossing such a long distance with an underseas cable? This isn't comparable to that Cuban-Venezuelan cable, or to a cable connecting several Caribbean countries as was discussed and proposed in the past. The distance we talk about now is much much longer. Is that estimated cost mentioned in the article realistic? I mean, there are several such cables in operation but I cannot recall any attempt for a cable crossing such large distance. In a way, the chances of success are a guess at this moment.

Brazil to Portugal is a relatively modest project.
See: http://www.submarinecablemap.com/

[Tsunami]

How did they manage to have a submarine cable from Canada's Hudson Bay, passing southwest of Baffin Island, further eastwards between the north of Canadian Mainland and the arctic islands and onwards to the northern tip of Alaska ... when most of those waters are frozen 90% of the year ??

Only recently boats (such as cruises but also trade ships) have managed to use that route, previously the waters north of Canada were Always frozen and unusable for any kind of traffic... So how can an underline cable be placed (and function) in freezingly cold water like that?
And that same cable is continued until Japan in one direction and London the other way, but passing through waters usually frozen ... The length of the cable and that one passage north of Canada (the Panama Canal was created because to the north and south of the Americas waters were too stormy or frozen to be used) make it very fascinating ...


PS: the Cuba-Venezuela cable is not it apparently, unless they chose a very light colour for that one so that I couldn't clearly see it... That cable is the only one I knew of before that topic (and it did increase speed of internet in Cuba, but then the distance isn't long... If I look at some of the cables on that map it's hard to believe we can install such things and make them work!)

[webecedarian]

HA! At least it may make people sit up and take notice. Thanks.