Almost all – more than 99pc – of the data that moves around the world nowadays travels via undersea cables, and the UK is a major nexus of the worldwide cable network.
We Brits also nowadays import 15pc (and rising) of our electricity via undersea interconnector cables from the Continent, and 40pc of our gas through undersea pipelines from Norway.
We are utterly dependent on seabed infrastructure to keep the lights on, to heat our homes, to power our remaining businesses and to keep the data flowing – the lifeblood of some of our most important industries. Some $10 trillion in financial transfers are handled by the cable system every single day.
Indeed, no less a researcher than Rishi Sunak – before he became prime minister – wrote a paper for the think tank Policy Exchange in 2017, describing the undersea data network as “indispensable and insecure”.
Almost all – more than 99pc – of the data that moves around the world nowadays travels via undersea cables, and the UK is a major nexus of the worldwide cable network.
We Brits also nowadays import 15pc (and rising) of our electricity via undersea interconnector cables from the Continent, and 40pc of our gas through undersea pipelines from Norway.
We are utterly dependent on seabed infrastructure to keep the lights on, to heat our homes, to power our remaining businesses and to keep the data flowing – the lifeblood of some of our most important industries. Some $10 trillion in financial transfers are handled by the cable system every single day.
Indeed, no less a researcher than Rishi Sunak – before he became prime minister – wrote a paper for the think tank Policy Exchange in 2017, describing the undersea data network as “indispensable and insecure”.