I was wondering how many different links there are between Great Britain/Ireland and the United States/Canada. I know that there are at least two fibre optic cables operated by Teleglobe and I know that telephone calls can also be sent this way.
Does each ISP have its own link to the United States or can several share the same one?
Is mainland Europe connected in the same way?
I know that there is a satellite Earth station at Goonhilly Downs. Are telephone calls, television broadcasts and Internet data sent via completely separately?
Does each television station have its own satellite or would they share them?
How do different telephone networks connect - would BT be cvonnected to one end of a cable and a US network to the other or would it be available to any network?
There’s a whole lotta cables connecting the UK and US. Dozens of fiber routes, and I don’t know how many, if any, copper lines still in service.
Transoceanic fibers are far too expensive for individual ISPs to own. Instead, the lines are owned, operated and maintained by a handful of companies - primarily AT&T, WorldCom, Cable & Wireless and Global Crossing. Click the links to see these companies’ global networks.
It’s an article on the laying of a fibre optic cable from London to US West Coast, via the Mediterranean, Suez canal, under India, thru Asia… (and that’s all I have read so far).
It s absolutely fascinating, has a lot of back story on oceanic cables, and is fun. It’s got a lot more detail than you might want though. It’s very long.
I have a 1958 book written by Arthur C. Clark called "Voice Across the Sea " which gives a very good history of trans Atlantic telecommunications from the first telegrapgh cable in the 1860s up to the start of satellite communications. Well worth a read if you can find a copy.