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Submarine communications cable

A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to transmit telecommunications signals across stretches of ocean. The first submarine communications cables, laid in the 1850s, carried telegraphy traffic.

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The first submarine communications cables, laid in the 1850s, carried telegraphy traffic. Subsequent generations of cables carried telephone traffic, then data communications traffic. Modern cables use optical fiber technology to carry digital data, which includes telephone, Internet and private data traffic.