Subsea cables and interconnection hubs – The interplay of diversifying routes and peering markets

The global interconnection environment is in the midst of a dynamic growth phase. A new breed of cable builders is spearheading a surge in submarine cable deployments, and peering ecosystems around the world are reaching record-breaking traffic levels. The length of new submarine cable deployed in 2017 was unmatched in any year since the end of the previous market boom in 2001, with more than 74,000 kilometers of fiber laid. The pace of subsea cable development could accelerate even further over the next three years, with as many as 74 systems totaling more than 300,000 kilometers in length and worth an estimated $8.8 billion tentatively slated to launch across all major subsea routes.

But what is driving all this development? Are fundamental shifts taking place in how networks are deployed? More specifically, can we see a correlation between the development of new routes and where networks are ultimately going to peer? DE-CIX has commissioned TeleGeography to assess the correlations between the growing subsea cable market and the global market for network interconnection. There are several topics to be examined and to be clarified: determining the core drivers of subsea supply and demand, exploring the route priorities of the new cable builders, determining which nodes are growing as interconnection markets, and evaluating cases of specific markets to see if subsea network and interconnection market development go hand-in-hand. In so doing, the new DE-CIX white paper provides a clearer sense of the critical synergy shared by the subsea cable and peering markets, while exploring the complexity inherent in determining exactly how strongly these markets correlate.

DE-CIX operates 15 Internet Exchanges worldwide in key markets like Europe, North America, India, and the Near East. DE-CIX in Frankfurt is the world’s leading Internet Exchange, with record data traffic of more than 6.7 terabits per second (Tbps).