The undersea tug of war for the digital Silk Road
The Atlantis 2, Polar express and Columbus 2 aren’t just names associated with Sci-Fi flicks but rather a few of the 400+ submarine internet cables that carry most of our internet traffic across the globe. The Polar express cable is unique because it is still being built and is funded by the Russian government to provide stable internet to coastal towns and arctic ports. Russia’s expansion in this area is not uncommon, and there have been reports of Russian submarines operating near atlantic cables as part of their unconventional warfare tactics. When Russia took control of Crimea, one of its initial actions was to cut off the main cable connection to the outside world.
In the past, this industry was dominated by state owned telecoms operators but in the last 20 years tech giants such as Meta, Microsoft and Google have eclipsed the industry with their investment- roughly $2billion between 2016–2022 according to TeleGeography. This investment is expected to increase to $3.9 billion in the next 3 years. Large scale infrastructure can help to satiate the appetite of this industry and that’s were China has stepped into the playing field. Offering cheaper equipment and labor, Chinese submarine cable companies can attract not only US firms in the states but increasingly other nations such South America and Africa. Governments in the USA and UK see this encroachment as one to take seriously citing security concerns and unwanted political influence.
Based on their actions China views expansion in this sector as crucial in facilitating economic and political interactions across the West, much like the Silk road did for Eurasian trade between the 2nd century BCE to mid-15th century. Still, Western governments say the intentions of the largest eastern state could be more nefarious and a coordinated attack on undersea internet cable infrastructure could disconnect millions of people. In February this year, Chinese vessels allegedly cut internet cables connecting Taiwan’s Matsu islands from the mainland. The ticket vending systems for planes and ships experienced technical difficulties, causing disruptions to local transportation and practically every business that requires network access.
Western governments consider it essential to have control over global internet infrastructure, and they have the ability to intercept any efforts by China or Russia to decrease their reliance on Western network routes. In response to concerns about China’s spying capabilities via subsea cables, the US government has expanded the ‘clean network’ initiative to protect American assets. As a result, permission for four proposed cables, which were intended to connect the US and Hong Kong owned by Google, Meta, and Amazon, were denied.
Actions from Western states to maintain their monopoly over resources may not necessarily be the best course of action. Doing so has forced eastern power-houses to become more creative in acquiring resources, leading to them forming relationships with countries previously affiliated with the West. Evidence of this can be seen in China’s takeover of Europe’s busiest port in Denmark, after the financial package offered to the Danish was too good to refuse.
Could a better long term solution be found in Western states being more transparent about how eastern states can share such resources? It could lead to improved trust amongst nations and more independence for eastern countries.
Submarine cables don’t create physical borders so this presents an opportunity for tech giants and western governments to support countries who have traditionally struggled to prop up their economies with cyber infrastructure. A public-private cable alliance with shared responsibility for the security of such cables could be the solution.
Cyber sovereignty is central to modern governments and that rhetoric isn’t going to sway anytime soon. As individuals we are becoming more conscious of the domino effect for our demand for internet access has on society. So to do our governments need to be more conscious of their actions against other states because wining this tug of war could lead to us falling backwards.
