# Transatlantic links **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transatlantic-links/161308 "2003-03-14T12:40:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dunmurry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dunmurry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunmurry)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transatlantic-links/161308/1 "2003-03-14T12:40:22Z")
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](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/284702.stm) 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](http://www.goonhilly.bt.com/). 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? Dunmurry. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transatlantic-links/161308/2 "2003-03-15T06:56:17Z")
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](http://www.worldcom.com/us/about/network/global_presence/global/wcom_global_presence_GLOBAL.pdf), [Cable & Wireless](http://www1.cw.com/template_05.jsp?ID=sp_network#) and [Global Crossing.](http://www.globalcrossing.com/xml/network/net_map.xml) Click the links to see these companies’ global networks. ---
**Author:** ![abby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@abby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abby)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transatlantic-links/161308/3 "2003-03-15T07:09:05Z")
A week or so ago, a topic very much like this came up, and some thoughtful soul provided a link to this doc: [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive//4.12/ffglass\_pr.html](http://www.wired.com/wired/archive//4.12/ffglass_pr.html) 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. Abby ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transatlantic-links/161308/4 "2003-03-15T13:58:31Z")
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.