Abstract
As a kind of large-scale connectivity infrastructure, submarine cables play a vital role in international telecommunication, socio-economic development and national defense security. However, the current understanding about the spatial pattern of global submarine cable network is relatively limited. In this article, we analyze the spatial distribution and connectivity pattern of global submarine cables, and identify their strategic pivots and strategic channels. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The spatial distribution of global submarine cables is significantly unbalanced, which is characterized by the facts that the distribution of submarine cable lines is similar to that of sea lanes, and the agglomerations of landing stations are distributed unevenly along the coastline. (2) The connectivity pattern of global submarine cable network has a significant scale effect. At the micro, meso and macro scales, the connectivity structure presents chain model, cluster model and hub-and-spoke model, respectively. (3) The distribution of strategic pivots and strategic channels shows a pyramidal hierarchical feature. Singapore ranks highest among all the strategic pivots, while the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Malacca rank highest among the strategic channels. Based on the identification of strategic pivots and channels, six strategic regions have been divided, which face various network security risks and need special attention and vigilance.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bakis H, Lu Zi, 2000. The change from the geographical space to geocyberspace: Review on the Western scholars on regional effects by telecommunication. Acta Geographica Sinica, 55(1): 104–110. (in Chinese)
Castells M, 1996. The Rise of the Network Society. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.
Chedida M R, Kobroslya R G, 2007. A supply model for crude oil and natural gas in the Middle East. Energy Policy, 35(4): 2096–2109.
Edwards P N, Bowker G C, Jackson S J et al., 2009. Introduction: An agenda for infrastructure studies. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 10(5): 364–374.
Grubesic T H, O’Kelly M E, Murray A T, 2003. A geographic perspective on commercial Internet survivability. Telematics and Informatics, 20(1): 51–69.
Guo J K, Wang S B, Wang D D et al., 2017. Spatial structural pattern and vulnerability of China-Japan-Korea ship** network. Chinese Geographical Science, 27(5): 697–708.
Headrick D R, 1991. The Invisible Weapon: Telecommunications and International Politics, 1851–1945. New York: Oxford University Press.
Headrick D R, Griset P, 2001. Submarine telegraph cables: Business and politics, 1838–1939. Business History Review, 75(3): 543–578.
Hu X L, Huang J, Shi F, 2019. Circuity in China’s high-speed-rail network. Journal of Transport Geography, 80: 1–13.
Jiao J J, Wang J E, ** F J, 2017. Impacts of high-speed rail lines on the city network in China. Journal of Transport Geography, 60: 257–266.
Joe W, 2012. The evolving interstate highway system and the changing geography of the United States. Journal of Transport Geography, 25: 70–86.
Joe W, 2017. Continuity and change in American urban freeway networks. Journal of Transport Geography, 58: 31–39.
Kathryn F, 2021. Geographies of infrastructure II: Concrete, cloud and layered (in)visibilities. Progress in Human Geography, 45(1): 190–198.
Kim H, 2012. P-hub protection models for survivable hub network design. Journal of Geographical Systems, 14(4): 437–461.
Liu Qing, 2019. Motivation analysis of American internet enterprises participating in submarine cable construction. Secrecy Science and Technology, (10): 59–62. (in Chinese)
Malecki E J, 2002. The economic geography of the Internet’s infrastructure. Economic Geography, 78(4): 399–424.
Malecki E J, Wei H, 2009. A wired world: The evolving geography of submarine cables and the shift to Asia. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 99(2), 360–382.
Mitchell L, Anthony M, 2000. The Internet backbone and the American metropolis. The Information Society, 16(1): 35–47.
Murray A T, Matisziw T C, Grubesic, T H, 2007. Critical network infrastructure analysis: Interdiction and system flow. Journal of Geographical Systems, 9(2): 103–117.
Nakamoto H, Sugiyama A, Utsumi A, 2009. Submarine optical communications system providing global communications network. Fujitsu Scientific and Technical Journal, 45(4): 386–391.
Pashkevich V, Haftor D M, Pashkevich N, 2021. The information sector in Denmark and Sweden: Value, employment, wages. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 162: 120347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.020.120347.
Rauscher K F, 2010. The reliability of global undersea communications cable infrastructure. IEEE Communications Society, http://www.ieee-rogucci.org/files/The%20ROGUCCI%20Report.pdf.
Rodrigue J P, 2020. The Geography of Transport Systems. 5th ed. New York: Routledge Press.
Saunavaara J, Salminen M, 2020. Geography of the global submarine fiber-optic cable network: The case for Arctic Ocean solutions. Geographical Review, https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2020.1773266.
Starosielski N, 2015. The Undersea Network. London: Duke University Press.
Sugadev A, 2016. India’s critical position in the global submarine cable network: An analysis of Indian law and practice on cable repairs. Indian Journal of International Law, 56(2): 173–200.
Sun Zhongwei, Lu Zi, He Junliang, 2009. Research on spatial pattern and organization mechanism of international internet information flows. Human Geography, 24(4): 43–49. (in Chinese)
Sun Zhongwei, Wang Yang, 2011. Progress of information and communication geography in China since 2000. Progress in Geography, 30(2): 149–156. (in Chinese)
Tavana M, Pirdashti M, Kennedy D T et al., 2012. A hybrid Delphi-SWOT paradigm for oil and gas pipeline strategic planning in Caspian Sea Basin. Energy Policy, 40: 345–360.
Townsend A M, 2001. The Internet and the rise of the new network cities, 1969–1999. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 28(1): 39–58.
Viljoen N M, Joubert J W, 2016. The vulnerability of the global container ship** network to targeted link disruption. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications, 462: 396–409.
**e Y S, Wang C J, 2021. Vulnerability of submarine cable network of mainland of China: Comparison of vulnerability between before and after construction of trans-Arctic cable system. Complexity, 6662232. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6662232.
Xu W T, Zhou J P, Qiu G, 2018. China’s high-speed rail network construction and planning over time: A network analysis. Journal of Transport Geography, 70: 40–54.
Ye Yincan, 2006. Development of submarine optic cable engineering in the past twenty years. Journal of Marine Sciences, 24(3): 1–10. (in Chinese)
Ye Yincan, Jiang **nmin, Pan Guofu et al., 2015. Submarine Fiber Optic Cable Engineering. Bei**g: China Ocean Press, 71–74. (in Chinese)
Zhang Zhuofan, Zhang Weiyang, Zhai Qinghua et al., 2022. Assessing node functions and network robustness of the global submarine cable transmission network. World Regional Studies, 31(5): 929–940. (in Chinese)
Funding
National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.42071151; Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.XDA20010101
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Author
**e Yongshun (1994-), PhD, specialized in transportation geography and regional development. E-mail: ysxiee@163.com
This paper is initially published in Acta Geographica Sinica (Chinese edition), 2023, 78(2): 386–402.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
**e, Y., Wang, C. Spatial pattern of global submarine cable network and identification of strategic pivot and strategic channel. J. Geogr. Sci. 33, 719–740 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2103-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2103-0