During cloud talks there are always a lot of discussions about the providers, their availability, reliability and service level agreements (SLA). What is often not discussed is the main dependence number one: The backbone of the Internet carriers. The Submarine Cable Map 2013 nicely illustrates where which cables run worldwide, which are responsible for the data transfer between the different continents.

Submarine Cable Map 2013 – The global backbone under the sea

The “Submarine Cable Map 2013” shows the backbone of the global submarine cable in the ocean. It shows where most of the data transfer takes place and which countries have the best interconnection.

Overall, the map illustrates 244 lines. Among those who were laid between the period 1992 to 2012, or those which are taken up in 2014. Existing lines are color-coded, gray cable are planned. Another twelve lines to be laid in the next two years.

At the bottom of the card it can also be seen how quick the respective connections between the different countries and continents are and how much the workload is. It can be seen, for example, that the available data connections from the United States to Colombia and Venezuela are fast, but to France and the UK, they are slower. The weakest data line, the U.S. has to South Africa and India.