What are undersea cables?
Undersea cables, also called submarine cables, are fibre optic cables laid on the seabed between land-based stations. They carry up to 99 per cent of internet traffic between continents and are vital for transmission of data, from personal email, online shopping to scientific research.

Financial transactions on platforms like banking networks, like Swift, as well as fintechs and blockchains also depend on data traffic through the cables.

The first undersea cable was laid in 1850 between France and Britain, and as of September, there were 532 active undersea cable systems, with another 77 planned, according to telecommunications research company Telegeography.