Precipitated by the recent damage to the MAYA-1 submarine cable system, a discussion on the importance of having back-up infrastructure, and the possible impact of increased maritime traffic on currently vulnerable networks.
The failure of the MAYA-1 cable, one of the two submarine cables that provide the Cayman Islands with international connectivity should have highlighted how vulnerable many Caribbean countries still are to technology failures. The MAYA-1 is a submarine cable system that connects seven countries: the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia, and is owned by a consortium of telecoms companies that includes Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), Verizon Business, AT&T, Sprint (Source: TeleGeography).
Figure 1: MAYA-1 route map and select specifications (Sources: MAYA-1 & TeleGeography)
MAYA-1 failure in Cayman
On 28 July, LIME, the incumbent telecoms provider in the Cayman Islands, and the local operator of the MAYA-1 submarine cable, announced that a major failure had occurred along the cable:
LIME’s initial findings are that the Maya-1 Cable System has suffered a shunt fault at on Segment 6, which is located between Half Moon Bay (Cable station) and Repeater 1 (Line Amplifier) in Cayman. The failure is preventing the local power feeding units from reaching their operating output levels and forcing them into shutdown mode despite numerous attempts to restore them. This first repeater is some 47km out to sea, and at this stage there is no definitive information on the exact location of the impairment that is causing the shunt fault so LIME’s team is continuing to work with local resources, suppliers and the other MAYA landing stations on this matter.
(Source: Cayman 27)
In the two days until service on that cable was restored (30 July), the international traffic carried on the MAYA-1, which would have been originated from a number of local providers including LIME, was routed through the Cayman—Jamaica Fiber System, another submarine cable network also owned by CWC, LIME’s parent company. Thereafter, the traffic from the Cayman Islands would leave Jamaica through up to three submarine cables that connect to the United States.
Although LIME/Cayman Islands was able to use the Cayman—Jamaica Fiber System as a back up to the MAYA-1, the transition was not especially smooth or transparent to consumers. LIME indicated that Internet and phone customers would experience some degradation, and even intermittent failure, of service during the period the MAYA-1 was down (Source: Caymanian Compass).
How does the Caribbean fare in comparison to the Cayman Islands?
In our post earlier this year, We are more connected than we think, we began to highlight the multiple submarine cable systems that currently operate in the Caribbean using Figure 2 below.
Figure 2: Excerpt from TeleGeography’s global submarine cable map showing the Caribbean region (Source: TeleGeography)
Although that map might seem impressive since every Caribbean/CARICOM country has at least one submarine cable system landing its jurisdiction, about two-thirds of them have fewer than three separate cables as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Number of submarine cables or landing points in select Caribbean countries (Source: TeleGeography)
For countries with only one submarine cable, they do not have any redundancy or back up, should it fail. Further, should there be no comprehensive satellite or other wireless systems that can provide international connectivity, these countries inherently would be cut off from the international world.
On the other hand, for countries with two separate submarines cables systems, such as the Cayman Islands, some redundancy might be available. However, should one of those cable systems fail, factors such as: the amount of unused capacity available; the relationship between the submarine cable operators; and the existing physical connection between to the two cable systems, could have an impact on the extent to which traffic from one submarine cable system can be seamlessly transferred to another.
In that regard, the recent joint venture between CWC Wholesale and Columbus Networks could be especially beneficial, especially in countries where both companies operate separate submarine cable systems. In addition to expanding the wholesale bandwidth capacity available to clients through the merged networks, there will also be a broader range of routing options, which may include back up alternatives, should one of the connections fail.
Possible impact of “progress” on vulnerable infrastructure
Finally, the growing importance of the Internet in our daily and professional lives means that maintaining connectivity to the Internet is critical. In most Caribbean countries connecting via submarine cables is preferred. Wireless options, such as via satellite, might exits, but they tend to be used when connecting to a submarine cable network might not be possible.
Worldwide, submarine cable is the medium through which international and major backhaul traffic is carried. However, cables frequently get damaged primarily due to ships dropping anchor near cables and snagging and rupturing then, trawler fishing, and from natural disasters.
In the Caribbean, many countries are expecting significant benefits to their economies as logistics hubs and trans-shipment points, when the Panama Canal re-opens next year. However, the considerable seaborne traffic anticipated throughout the region, along with the larger shipping (post-Panamax) vessels that will be passing through the Canal, could cause our existing submarine cable networks to become even more vulnerable to damage than they currently are. It will be interesting to see how our countries, both individually and collectively, will address such challenges especially when economic benefits to be realised from maritime activities and those from ICT have to be considered.
Image credit: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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