Say Goodbye to the Undersea Cable That Made the Global Internet Possible (wired.com) 32
The first fiber-optic cable ever laid across an ocean -- TAT-8, a nearly 6,000-kilometer line between the United States, United Kingdom, and France that carried its first traffic on December 14, 1988 -- is now being pulled off the Atlantic seabed after more than two decades of sitting dormant, bound for recycling in South Africa.
Subsea Environmental Services, one of only three companies in the world whose entire business is cable recovery and recycling, began the operation last year using its new diesel-electric vessel, the MV Maasvliet, and had already brought 1,012 kilometers of the cable to the Portuguese port of Leixoes by August.
TAT-8, short for Trans-Atlantic Telephone 8, was built by AT&T, British Telecom, and France Telecom, and hit full capacity within just 18 months of going live. A fault too expensive to repair took it out of service in 2002. The recovered cable is being shipped to Mertech Marine in South Africa, where it will be broken down into steel, copper, and two types of polyethylene -- all commercially valuable, especially the high-quality copper at a time when the International Energy Agency projects global shortages within a decade.
Subsea Environmental Services, one of only three companies in the world whose entire business is cable recovery and recycling, began the operation last year using its new diesel-electric vessel, the MV Maasvliet, and had already brought 1,012 kilometers of the cable to the Portuguese port of Leixoes by August.
TAT-8, short for Trans-Atlantic Telephone 8, was built by AT&T, British Telecom, and France Telecom, and hit full capacity within just 18 months of going live. A fault too expensive to repair took it out of service in 2002. The recovered cable is being shipped to Mertech Marine in South Africa, where it will be broken down into steel, copper, and two types of polyethylene -- all commercially valuable, especially the high-quality copper at a time when the International Energy Agency projects global shortages within a decade.
Ever wondered how underwater cables are laid? (Score:5, Informative)
Ever wondered how underwater cables are laid [wired.com]?
Here's a super cool subsea cable article almost as old [wired.com] as the cable in TFA.
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Nope.
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The story above talks about the first fiber optic cable laid across the Atlantic. Since that's being removed, have there been replacement cables laid on the route? Or were there already redundant cables built in?
On another note, I wonder whether these cables are laid directly across the ocean (regardless of land), or from coast to coast - say from New York to Newfoundland to Prins Christian Sund in Greenland to Reykjavik to Faroe Islands to Shetlands to Aberdeen to London (along Britain's North Sea coas
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On another note, I wonder whether these cables are laid directly across the ocean (regardless of land), or from coast to coast - say from New York to Newfoundland to Prins Christian Sund in Greenland to Reykjavik to Faroe Islands to Shetlands to Aberdeen to London (along Britain's North Sea coast) to Calais to everywhere else in Europe. The latter, while longer, could provide access to Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands before going on to Britain and then mainland Europe?
Is your question do they lay the cable directly between two points or do they island hop? The cables make direct routes [submarinecablemap.com] as much as possible between two points on the coast. New York to Ireland. New York to France. Newfoundland to Ireland. Newfoundland to UK. Newfoundland to Greenland and Iceland. Iceland to Norway.
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The story above talks about the first fiber optic cable laid across the Atlantic. Since that's being removed, have there been replacement cables laid on the route?
According to TFS the cable has been out of operation since 2002, so I think it's safe to assume the traffic has been moved to another cable on the same path or rerouted through other connections at this point. ;-)
Re:Ever wondered how underwater cables are laid? (Score:5, Interesting)
TAT-8 carried 280Mbit/s [wikipedia.org] in the days when the equivalent number of telephone circuits was relevant. The Fastnet [aboutamazon.com] cable will deliver 320Tbit/s, so one million times more! I wonder how many newer cables cross TAT-8 and therefore lie on top of it? Dragging TAT-8 up from the sea floor sounds like it could cause some collateral damage. Perhaps they will leave some sections down there to avoid this.
Other links: Submarine cable repair animation [youtube.com], Informative article with annoying graphics [slashdot.org]
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I wonder how many newer cables cross TAT-8 and therefore lie on top of it?
I would guess nearly zero in the greater Atlantic (large ocean, etc.). Such overlays would be far more likely to occur at the landing sites, which are often used by multiple cables. I would expect the company will be able to detect interference based on how many tons of force are being used by lifting the cable.
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The most accurate predictor for cable breakage is the number of ships that have been renamed more than 20 times in the past year going in their vicinity. Number of overlays is nothing in comparison.
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Tinder?
How long before nigerian prince used it? (Score:3)
So many bits traveled this cable seeking assistance in resolving a matter.
Unexpected Surprises? (Score:3)
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Anyhow, this project shows us the present value of copper.
Re: Unexpected Surprises? (Score:5, Informative)
I'm was surprised there is any copper in a fibre optic cable. Never really given them much thought before. But to save others googling, they have high voltage power cables and boosters every 100km or so.
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I had no idea they were recycling fiber optic cables like that! I remember seeing an underseas cable dragged up into the jungle down in Panama when I was working in the Army Jungle School at Fort Sherman. It was at Devil's Beach, where our student companies would regularly take a break, and the big black cable (I can't remember, maybe 3 or 4 inches in diameter?) was just lying there in the jungle. You could see its construction on the end visible there. I always have regretted not bringing a hacksaw the
Glad it's being recycled (Score:2)
Good on them for pulling it out for recycling - but are they doing it because it's better for the environment, required by law, or because they'll make enough money from recycling to be worth it?
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The raw materials are valuable, otherwise it would just remain a part of the bottom of the ocean.
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If they were, meth addicts would have rolled it up and carted it off years ago. Shame it wasn't made using copper.
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Re: Glad it's being recycled (Score:2)
Maybe knowledge of the motivation that got the right thing done here might be used in the future to ensure the right thing continues to be done?
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Science (Score:3, Interesting)
Sell cross-sections (Score:4, Interesting)
They should sell cross-sections through the cable (about 1/2 to 1 inch thick) mounted and framed as a way for people to "own a piece of global communications history". People would pay upwards of $500-$1000 I bet. They could produce a limited run of them and recycle the rest. It wouldn't even use that much of the material -- the vast majority would still be recycled.
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Undersea cables book (Score:4, Informative)
We don't have to say goodbye. (Score:2)
It's going to be recycled into products that we'll use. In fact, some of its constituents are "forever chemicals." One sip from a bottle derived from a bit of the cable, and it will be with us for the rest of our lives!
Abandoned (Score:2)
Goodbye. (Score:2)