Reply to post: Re: Not really a big issue

Submarine cables at risk from sea water, boffins warn. Wait, what?

Kernel

Re: Not really a big issue

I'm assuming you're not familiar with what goes into making a landing station - it most certainly is not easy to take a submarine cable off line and move it. (Hooking it with a ship's anchor and dragging across the seabed doesn't count).

Apart from the new infrastructure build required to replace the landing station, replacing/extending the landing section of the cable would be quite a significant task as it is usually comprised of the heaviest and most highly armoured cable in the system. There's also more than a couple of hours worth of setup and certification work needed once the new landing station(s) have been built - more like days or weeks.

Oh, and don't forget that the cable manufacturer will want to do a feasibility study on your new build, as in some cases there may be an impact on cable capacity - normally the first amplifier is placed on the assumption the landing station is not going to move - if you extend the cable too much an additional amplifier may be required, which will change the power feeding needs of the cable and introduce more noise and distortion to the optical signals. This in turn may mean you are restricted to 10G or 40G/wavelength rather than 100G, 200G or 400G, or perhaps you will not be able to use as many wavelengths.

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