By Geoff Bennett, Director of Solutions & Technology, Infinera
Submarine cable systems provide a vital communication pathway between continents. According to analyst firm Telegeography, there are 487 of these cables operating around the world today. Each cable is unique – some are simple, unrepeatered cables, while others stretch across the oceans for over 10,000 kilometers. But there are certain factors that determine the performance of any cable, as measured by two crucial metrics – the maximum wavelength data rate and the total transmission capacity of each fiber pair.