Governments world wide are asking important questions on nationwide safety and submarine cables, in search of to guard this important infrastructure and mitigate threat.
Within the minds of many, threats from unhealthy actors are a prime concern, although the overwhelming majority of cable faults are attributable to accidents from fishing and anchor drags.
On November 20, 2025, members of the U.S. Home Committee on Homeland Safety convened a listening to to debate overseas adversary threats to subsea cable infrastructure. TeleGeography’s Chief Analysis Officer Tim Stronge testified at this joint listening to for the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Safety and the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety.
Watch Tim’s congressional testimony beneath and learn the report he submitted to Congress.
Opening Assertion of Tim Stronge, Chief Analysis Officer, TeleGeography
Chairmen, Rating Members, and distinguished members of the committee. Thanks for the chance to talk with you in the present day.
My identify is Tim Stronge, and I’m the Chief Analysis Officer at TeleGeography. We offer the unbiased knowledge that the worldwide communications business depends on to map and measure the web.
I’m right here in the present day to speak in regards to the bodily spine of the fashionable U.S. financial system: submarine fiber-optic cables. The strategic significance of this community boils down to 3 traits: these cables are weak, they’re important, and they’re irreplaceable.
First, vulnerability. I’ve introduced a cable pattern with me. Encased inside are skinny strands of glass, every in regards to the width of a human hair.
If this seems to be fragile to you, that’s as a result of it’s. Particular person cables are particularly weak to break from fishing gear and anchor drags. The worldwide community experiences roughly 200 faults yearly—a mean of 4 per week.
Second, criticality. My son Kaz is away at school in Connecticut. One among our favourite methods to remain related is to share humorous movies. Fiber-optic networks make that doable. Maybe you already lay awake at evening, worrying about how we should shield our nation’s strategic reserve of cat movies. However even when not, it’s essential to grasp that cables carry excess of social media and internet content material.
They’re the spine of world finance. Greater than $12 trillion in monetary transactions circulate over these cables every day. Hundreds of thousands of American jobs now depend upon entry to digital infrastructure. The U.S. authorities, itself, is closely reliant on business submarine cables.
Third, irreplaceability. A standard false impression is that satellites are a viable one-for-one alternative. They aren’t. Satellites are a significant emergency backup for mission-essential use, however they can not change the sheer capability and cost-efficiency of fiber. Cables carry over 99% of all intercontinental knowledge for a easy motive: the cost-per-unit of cable capability is 2,800 occasions cheaper than satellites.
Collectively, these three circumstances—bodily vulnerability, excessive criticality and irreplaceability—would possibly appear to be a scary combine.
However I’m right here in the present day with excellent news. For a cable operator, the lack of income streams throughout downtime is financially catastrophic. That implies that these non-public firms are already powerfully self-incentivized to safe their cables.
Let’s return to that vulnerability. The overwhelming majority of these 200 annual faults are accidents. This fixed menace has compelled the non-public sector to speculate billions of {dollars} in a tangible, layered protection.
Firms have constructed dozens of recent cables and geographically numerous touchdown stations to make sure knowledge at all times has a backup path. Cable operators are innovating with new detection expertise that makes use of the fiber itself to sense threats. And so they have funded a world fleet of two dozen restore vessels on 24/7 standby.
Crucially, the methods constructed to defend in opposition to routine accidents will even assist to safe the community in opposition to malicious assaults.
Nonetheless, there are important gaps the place authorities motion is required:
- First, designate a single level of contact for cables. We want one federal lead with a twin mandate: to shepherd new cable tasks via the allowing maze, and to construct a coherent nationwide technique for resilience.
- Second, strengthen deterrence. Present penalties for injury to cables date again to an 1884 treaty on telegraph cables and are woefully—virtually comically—inadequate.
- Third, assist fast-track cable restore overseas. The worldwide common delay to start a restore is now a month and a half. A lot of that is because of complicated allowing in overseas waters. We want a diplomatic push to chop the overseas purple tape preserving restore ships in port.
The business has already demonstrated its deep dedication to cable safety. It seems to be to authorities as a associate to assist clear the trail.
Thanks, and I sit up for your questions.
