In early December, news reported that Meta planned to spend $10 million to build a new fiber optic cable system that will span more than 40,000 kilometers worldwide. The disputed waters in the South China Sea are increasingly causing headaches for cable companies trapped in China's territorial disputes with their neighbors. Industry insiders said it disrupted the construction of new submarine optical cables, caused much-needed maintenance delays, and increased the cost of submarine optical cable operations.

 

This does not bode well. China's South China Sea is a major waterway and one of the most important fishing grounds in the world, with submarine optical cables more susceptible to damage than anywhere in the world. The Washington Post quoted ICPC as saying that optical cable failures occur at least once every few weeks. However, underwater fiber optic cable operators are increasingly looking for new ways to connect East and West to avoid the challenge of laying new cables in disputed waters. But the more roundabout route is less direct, with a cost of tens of millions of dollars. Experts say the most direct and effective way to meet the growing demand for network connection in Asia is to lay optical cables in the central South China Sea, with the main line branches on both sides.

 

For decades, a network of 11 submarine optical cable systems under the South China Sea has connected major Asian hubs such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan with other parts of the world. On the other hand, China has 15 such submarine cable systems—all of which have been put into use since 1994—as its connection to the outside world. According to an analysis by Nikkei Asia, Submarine Fiber Optic Cable the technological war between China and the United States has affected at least six international optical cable projects in the past five years, and more than 50,000 kilometers of optical cables have been postponed, stopped, or redesigned.

 

With collaborative lobbying from the United States, three U.S.-funded trans-Pacific cable projects have changed courses, avoiding the South China Sea and traversing waters bordering Indonesia and the Philippines. Three international optical cables connecting hong kong submarine cable are scheduled to be completed in 2025. But over the past four years, the U.S. government has blocked at least three optical cable projects connecting Hong Kong and the United States on the grounds of fear that China might monitor or destroy communications.

 

 

On the other hand, it is planned to lay 4 optical cables in Japan and 7 optical cables in Singapore after 2024. In addition, nine optical cables will be laid to Guam, located between the United States and Southeast Asia.