The British Navy, reports the Nova agency, is developing a new surveillance ship to protect submarine cables considered as strategic infrastructures. The UK Department of Defense defines such cables "Vital to the global economy and communications between governments", but at the same time they are “at risk of sabotage due to submarine warfare”. The British Minister of Defense Ben Wallace noted how the new Royal Navy ship will protect strategic national infrastructure, including ocean cables. The multi-role surveillance ship will be equipped with advanced sensors and a series of submarine drones for data collection. The vessel will enter service in 2024 and will have a crew of 15. The ship, according to the British Ministry of Defense, will also be able to carry out other defensive operations, including maneuvers in the Arctic.
THE SUBMARINE CABLES
There are about 400 submarine telecommunications cables connecting all continents exchanging 95 percent of data globally. But who builds these "vital" arteries for world communications? One of the leading companies in the sector is Huawei. Chinese company accused by the United States of espionage on behalf of China by taking advantage of its contracts to implement 5G, the next generation cellular network, around the world.
The proximity of Huawei to the Chinese government is a danger, according to the Americans, because in the systems it sells abroad, it could carry out cyber espionage. In Europe, Huawei has made numerous deals to build the new cellular networks, but several European governments are receiving heavy pressure from the United States to review contracts and rely on other companies.
The laying and management of submarine cables is organized by Huawei through its subsidiary called Huawei Marine Networks. Similar to what happened with other divisions of the Chinese company, Huawei Marine has grown very rapidly in recent years, becoming one of the most important companies in the sector globally. In 2019 it completed the laying of a cable on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to put Africa and South America in direct communication, through a connection between Cameroon and Brazil. The cable is 6 kilometers long and will allow for the acceleration of data transmission in parts of the world that are still developing.
Huawei Marine is engaged in at least 90 projects involving the construction or upgrading of submarine telecommunications cables around the world. It manages to make numerous contracts thanks to its policies to reduce profit margins, which allow it to offer products to operators at very advantageous prices, compared to companies that have historically already established themselves in the sector and which are US, European and Japanese. For example, Huawei Marine is working on the construction of more sections of a new cable - between Europe, Asia and Africa - which will be 12 thousand kilometers long.
The new connection is part of the plans of the so-called "New Silk Road”, The initiative launched by the Chinese government to improve its connections to the countries of Eurasia and parts of Africa. It is an extremely ambitious plan that involves large investments in the construction of ports, roads, railways and telecommunications networks in the participating countries.
China has already started the construction of numerous infrastructures, offering financing to the countries concerned in exchange for privileged access to its goods and other assets. The initiative is particularly worrying for the United States, which fears losing its influence against the countries of Western Europe.
Concerns are also linked to the fact that the Chinese government exercises strict control over the population, through sophisticated computer surveillance systems and by limiting access to free information. According to intelligence experts, China would like to reproduce this approach abroad, taking advantage of its presence in the construction of new telecommunications systems, such as submarine cables.
For its part, Huawei Marine has always denied having a direct role in the "New Silk Road”, But is still obtaining numerous contracts in the sector for the laying of new cables. The company has existed since 2008 and is the result of a joint venture with Global Marine Systems, a British company that owns a fleet of ships equipped for laying submarine cables. Huawei owns 51 percent of Huawei Marine, while the remaining 49 percent is in the hands of HC2 Holdings, a US company that controls Global Marine Systems. HC2 is considering the sale of its shares, which could be acquired by Huawei, obtaining full control of the joint venture and thus also excluding the United Kingdom.
For more than 10 years Huawei has been working on submarine cables, and in some cases it has made extensions and updates of connections even for systems that directly concerned the United States. Things got complicated in 2012 when the US Congress labeled Huawei a "national security threat". At the time, negotiations were underway to build a $ 250 million submarine link between London and New York. It turned out that the operator involved in the operation was persuaded to abandon Huawei and to choose other companies with technologies made in the United States. The impression was that the United States used the "threat" issue as an excuse to favor US companies at the expense of their Chinese competitor.
The Congressional statement and subsequent allegations made against Huawei have meant that since 2013 the company has no longer worked on cables that directly connect the United States. However, Huawei Marine has expanded significantly in the rest of the world and is the fourth largest company in the sector, after the US SubCom, the Finnish Alcatel Submarine Networks and the Japanese NEC. By 2020 it will complete the construction of 28 submarine cables alone, a quarter of all those under construction in the five-year period 2015-2020. Some of these connect several allies of the United States, such as France, the United Kingdom and Canada.
In most cases, submarine cables are controlled by large telephone operators, who organize themselves into consortia to jointly support the costs of their installation and maintenance over time. Many operators are controlled directly by governments, or have historically close relationships with them, given that on their networks pass all kinds of data, including those for managing service networks and infrastructure. In recent times, large Internet companies such as Facebook and Google have started to make their own cables to enhance the services they offer to users. The traffic is routed on the submarine cables according to the needs of the moment, so rarely can you have complete control over the medium through which the information will pass.
The construction of the 5G is closely linked to the expansion of the submarine cable network to connect the continents. Cell phone repeaters are naturally connected by cable to the rest of the Internet and for the transmission of information over great distances, with oceans in between, satellites are not enough. High capacity and speed networks will require more bandwidth than submarine cables and the construction of new connections. Despite the US accusations, Huawei will not be excluded in the rest of the world from this great job of updating the networks.
Washington, until today, has never stopped the construction of submarine cables, which constitute the global backbone of the Internet, facilitating almost 100% of Internet traffic. Much of the submarine cable network is being replaced by modern optical cables that can facilitate ever-faster Internet communications.
One of these networks is the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN), an 8.000-mile submarine cable construction project funded by Google, Facebook and Dr. Peng Telecom & Media Group Co., one of the largest telecommunications and hardware manufacturers in China. The completion of the PLCN will produce the first direct Internet link between Los Angeles and Hong Kong and is expected to increase Internet speeds in both China and the United States.
An American regulatory committee has recommended blocking the final construction phase of the PLCN. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Committee fears that the 300 million dollar project could facilitate Chinese espionage. The Committee led by the Department of Justice, known as Team Telecom It is composed of officials from several American government agencies.
Never before has the United States already blocked construction of a submarine cable, the Journal reported. National security concerns were raised with reference to previous submarine cable projects, some of which were partially funded by Chinese-owned companies. But the projects eventually continued after manufacturers were able to prove that the submarine cable design prohibited the installation of wiretaps.