Subsea Cable Infrastructure Requires Significant Maintenance and Repair Investment to Meet Global Use

As the backbone of the global internet, submarine cable infrastructure is seeing a surge in investment, but not in its maintenance and repair capabilities. That’s one of the key takeaways from a new report by TeleGeography and Infra-Analytics, “The Future of Submarine Cable Maintenance.” 

The landmark report projects a 48% net increase in total cable kilometers to be deployed in the world's oceans by 2040, driven by rising bandwidth demands and the need for network redundancy and resilience. However, by the same year, approximately two-thirds of cable maintenance ships will have reached the end of their service life, with about half of the global fleet of cable ships also approaching this milestone.

“This study illuminates the increasingly urgent need for investment in the global connectivity critical infrastructure—both submarine cables and maintenance vessels—powering today’s digital industry,” said Alan Mauldin, Research Director at TeleGeography. “Our goal with this report is to equip stakeholders with the knowledge they need to support a more secure, resilient, and future-proof cable ecosystem.”

There are currently an average of 200 cable faults worldwide each year, according to International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) statistics. As the number of submarine cables in service increases, cable breaks, or “faults,” will likely increase, raising concerns about whether there are enough maintenance ships to maintain service quality for the global internet.

Meeting the challenges of a rapidly expanding submarine cable ecosystem and an aging cable ship fleet will require an investment of roughly $3 billion to sustain current service levels and avoid repair delays. This would entail the acquisition of 15 replacement ships and five additional ships to serve the global subsea internet infrastructure.