How many undersea fiber optic cables are there currently in use?

Answer 1

As of 2007 the count is 167 inter-continental sub mariner fiber optic cables laying on the bottom of the ocean. In many case it simply drapes over trenches. The cables are incased in inter-weaved Teflon to protect from shark bites. The capacity of these cables varies, dependent on the level of technology available at the time of deployment. The cable also caries it's own high voltage power wires. This voltage is to power fiber optic amplifier/repeaters which are spaced out over several miles to ensure signal integrity. Once the fiber comes ashore it is buried underground and come up inside a network operations hut. From there it is amplified, monitored for errors and sent off to it's destination.

Justin Petersen