Reliable subsea infrastructure needs to be ‘safe when it fails’

Telecommunications operators talk a lot about the need to build a network that’s resilient to both the expected and the unpredictable. But the meaning of resilience isn’t cut and dry, said Steve Song, senior director of infrastructure mapping and development at the non-profit Internet Society. Instead of trying to create “fail-safe network infrastructure, we’re looking for network infrastructure that’s safe when it fails,” said Song. “That means when there’s a disruption, that there’s always a kind of fallback route for data to travel on.” Underwater cables, which carry the vast majority of global data traffic, are at the heart of the resilience discussion. Steve Roberts, SVP of network investment at EXA Infrastructure, also called to attention “the need for greater network redundancy.” “We are so reliant on these vital pathways to transport data, that more investment into alternative paths is needed to ensure that when a cable is down, whatever the reason, traffic isn’t impacted,” said Roberts.