Observed annually on July 27, Cross Atlantic Communication Day marks the anniversary of the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866. This is an engineering breakthrough that laid the foundation for modern global communications.
Submarine cables form the critical infrastructure underpinning global data exchange, enabling the vast majority of digital activity. For cross-border enterprises, these undersea fiber-optic systems are critical to enabling high-speed, low-latency connections across the world’s digital economies.
As demand for bandwidth continues to grow due to artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and digital transformation initiatives, resilient and scalable transatlantic infrastructure is more vital than ever.
With new systems being deployed to enhance route diversity and capacity, the subsea cable ecosystem continues to evolve, reinforcing its strategic importance for business-to-business (B2B) stakeholders in telecom, cloud, finance, and beyond.
Lighting the Deep: A Century of Transatlantic Connection
The story of transatlantic communication began in the mid-19th century, revolutionizing how continents exchanged information. Before submarine cables, communication between Europe and North America relied on ships, taking days or weeks. The first successful transatlantic telegraph cable was completed in 1866, following earlier attempts that faced technical challenges and failures. This monumental achievement reduced message transmission time from weeks to mere minutes, dramatically accelerating international business and diplomacy.
Early cables were copper-based and transmitted telegraph signals, but advancements in materials and technology soon led to the introduction of coaxial cables in the mid-20th century, enabling telephone and data transmission. The real transformative leap came in the late 1980s and 1990s with the deployment of fiber-optic submarine cables, which utilize pulses of light to carry vast volumes of data with minimal loss and high reliability.
These fiber-optic cables have continually evolved, with increased bandwidth capacity and improved durability, adapting to the growing demand for digital connectivity.
Data at Depth: The Transatlantic Cable Boom
Several modern transatlantic submarine cable systems exemplify the scale, innovation, and strategic importance of undersea connectivity. Here are some of the well-known trans‑Atlantic submarine cable projects, either in service or planned:
- Dunant
Owned by Google and operational since 2021, this subsea cable connects Virginia Beach in the U.S. to the French Atlantic coast. It was the first transatlantic system to use space-division multiplexing (SDM), offering a massive 250 Tbps of capacity across 12 fiber pairs to support cloud-scale traffic and enterprise connectivity.
- Marea
Launched in 2018 by Microsoft, Meta, and Telxius, this subsea cable runs between Virginia Beach and Bilbao, Spain. It was designed for low latency and high resilience, providing 160 Tbps of capacity and offering an alternative route to traditional congested landing points like the UK.
- Havfrue/AEC-2
Operational since 2020, this subsea cable connects New Jersey to Denmark with branches to Ireland and Norway. Backed by Aqua Comms, Meta, and Google, it enhances connectivity in Northern Europe and supports robust, scalable enterprise services.
- AEConnect-1
Launched in 2016 by Aqua Comms, this subsea cable links Long Island, U.S., to Killala, Ireland. With over 130 Tbps of capacity, it was one of the first cables specifically optimized for data center traffic and is heavily used by financial and cloud providers.
- TGN Atlantic
As part of Tata Communications’s global network, this subsea cable has remained in service since the early 2000s and continues to support transatlantic data flows through regular upgrades.
- Grace Hopper
Connecting New York (U.S.) and Bude (UK) with a branch to Bilbao (Spain), this Google-owned cable is built with fiber‑optic technology and delivers roughly 352 Tbps across 16 fiber pairs. It also utilizes optical switching for enhanced resilience and traffic management.
- Amitié
Linking Lynn (Massachusetts), Le Porge (France), and Bude (UK), this subsea cable spans approximately 6,800 km and offers 16 fiber pairs at 23 Tbps each. Commissioned by Meta, Microsoft, Orange, and Vodafone, it entered service after trials in October 2023.
- Sol
Announced by Google in July 2025 and expected to go live around 2027, this cable will connect Palm Coast, Florida, with Bermuda, the Azores, and Santander, Spain. It will be the first direct fiber-optic link between Florida and Europe, significantly boosting route diversity and capacity.
- 2Africa
This massive 45,000-km subsea cable encircling Africa and linking Europe, Asia, and Africa will offer 180 Tbps of capacity and is slated to begin service in Q4 2025.
- Meta’s Project Waterworth
Designed to be the world’s longest 24-fiber-pair subsea cable, the project will connect the U.S., India, Brazil, South Africa, and other key regions, creating three new oceanic corridors and spanning over 50,000 kilometers. Development is expected to be completed by 2030.
These examples highlight the shift toward hyperscaler-led infrastructure, multi-landing diversity for route protection, and technological innovation. They also demonstrate how strategic partnerships between cloud providers, carriers, and content platforms are reshaping the transatlantic communications landscape to support growing digital economies on both sides of the ocean.
What’s Next for Transatlantic Cables? Speed, Scale, and Sustainability
As global digital demand accelerates, the future of transatlantic subsea cables is being shaped by several key trends. Firstly, hyperscale data traffic—from cloud computing, AI workloads, and streaming—continues to surge, driving the need for next-generation cable systems with ultra-high capacity and lower latency. Technologies like SDM are becoming the standard, allowing operators to scale bandwidth more efficiently.
Secondly, route diversity is gaining strategic importance. New cables are being planned or deployed along alternative paths—such as from the U.S.’ East Coast to Southern Europe or the Nordic region—to mitigate congestion and enhance resilience.
Thirdly, sustainability is becoming a growing concern. Operators are increasingly designing energy-efficient cable systems and leveraging renewable energy for landing stations and network operations to align with global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.
Additionally, geopolitical and regulatory factors are influencing ownership structures, with governments and hyperscalers seeking greater control over critical infrastructure. We can also expect increased automation and AI-driven monitoring to improve maintenance, security, and fault prediction across the subsea cable ecosystem.
Crossing Oceans, Powering Business
Transatlantic submarine cable systems are foundational to the performance, reliability, and scalability of cross-continental digital infrastructure. Cross Atlantic Communication Day serves as a strategic reminder that the cables under the sea are not background technology; they are business enablers. And in a hyperconnected global economy, visibility into this layer of infrastructure is essential for building resilient, scalable, and future-ready enterprises.
