Technology

For security reasons, the specific technical details of the Farice cable network are not available to the public. However, there is considerable information on submarine cable technology from many sources.

Few things illustrate the relationship between science, technology and society better than underseas communications cables. They have changed how countries are governed, ended isolation imposed by oceanic barriers, and have made a modern global economy possible.

Unlike land-based cables that are easily accesses and laid with relatively ease, submarine cables must be laid over a largely unknown ocean bottom and, if possible, buried in seafloor sediments using remotely operated digging equipment. They also must have the strength to withstand several kilometers of steep suspension from ships and buoys and then an indefinite period of time under intense deep-sea pressures. They must also endure disturbance by bottom-fishing hardware and nets, anchors, explosions from naval ordinance, undersea earthquakes and landslides, hungry marine creatures, and other invasive threats.

Advancements in digital-signal technology have been profound over the last fifty years, resulting in a global network of data exchange that could not be forecast. Websites and downloadable papers are available in the links to the right.