- Red Sea submarine cable delay reduces global bandwidth in already strained regions
- Operators face hazardous conditions that prevent vital installation crews from working safely
- High-risk waters force telecoms to abandon long-planned deployment deadlines
Continuing instability in the Red Sea has created serious obstacles for tech giants and submarine cable operators, who now face prolonged pauses in construction as security threats complicate every step of the deployment.
Cable ships require predictable access, stable waters and political authorization, but these conditions are no longer present in an area where conflicts have disrupted daily maritime activity.
Companies involved in large systems meant to connect Europe, Asia and Africa have confirmed that critical segments of their infrastructure cannot move forward because their ships and crews cannot operate safely.
Critical projects lose momentum
Meta’s 2Africa system and Google’s Blue-Raman project remain the most visible examples of stalled work, with the Red Sea sections still incomplete despite years of significant planning and investment.
Operators responsible for additional cables, including India-Europe-Xpress, Sea-Me-We 6 and Africa-1, have been unable to complete their planned routes, creating a bottleneck in a corridor that historically handled large volumes of global data traffic.
These delays add pressure to countries that rely on limited cable routes and continue to experience slower speeds and higher prices.
Telecommunications groups are currently evaluating land routes through Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Iraq in an attempt to bypass the Red Sea entirely – routes that, ironically, were once considered too expensive or politically complex.
Some companies are exploring the possibility of seeking exemptions from the U.S. Treasury Department, which would allow them to negotiate directly with Yemeni authorities to obtain permits for their cable-laying operations.
Others debated whether support from international security organizations might be necessary to ensure safe access to installation and maintenance vessels.
The delays created greater operational challenges as traffic was shifted to alternative systems that were not designed to support prolonged excess demand.
This congestion affects the services of businesses that rely on stable international routes, especially organizations that rely on business broadband connections for their daily operations.
Capacity shortages also complicate disaster recovery plans because sudden rerouting increases reliance on cloud backup networks that must absorb unexpected loads.
Countries with fewer cable connections remain the most vulnerable because they lack the redundancy to withstand prolonged disruptions.
These conditions suggest that the likelihood of further outages will increase if geopolitical risks continue to block construction in the region.
Via Bloomberg
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