Submarine cables carry around 99 percent of global internet traffic, according to ITU. The International Cable Protection Committee, as cited by ITU, says there are about 150 to 200 breaches each year, roughly three repairs a week. Most disruptions come from accidents or natural hazards, not sabotage.
The numbers, and where they come from
A UN news story on an ITU resilience meeting in November 2024 gives the figures this post relies on. It says submarine cables carry "around 99 per cent of global internet traffic." It also says about 150 to 200 breaches occur globally each year, requiring roughly three repairs per week, according to the ICPC.
On causes, the article says ITU does not attribute them itself. Its partners, including cable protection bodies, say about 80 percent of disruptions come from accidental human activity or natural hazards. The article also cites ageing infrastructure as a source of vulnerability.
I did not find a primary ICPC page I could fetch for the same numbers, so treat them as ITU's report of ICPC figures, and check ICPC directly if you need to quote them.
What a break does to you
A cable fault rarely means "the internet is off". Traffic is rerouted over other cables and paths, so users often see slower or longer routes, not a blackout. The effect depends on how many routes serve a region. A place with few cables and little spare capacity feels a fault more than a place with many.
That is why resilience planning for a business looks like this:
- Know which regions your providers depend on for transit.
- Ask whether your cloud or network providers use diverse routes into your key regions.
- Avoid putting both a primary and a backup service behind one provider that shares the same path.
- Test what your application does when latency doubles, not only when it fails outright.
Who works on the problem
ITU and the ICPC created the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience. The article says it aims to promote best practices and principles for governments and industry, and that it is tasked with ensuring timely deployment and speedy repair of cables. It has 40 members and meets at least twice a year, with an in-person meeting planned for the Submarine Cable Resilience Summit in Abuja, Nigeria, in late February 2025.
Repairs are physical work done at sea, which is why a single fault can take time to fix. The source here gives the repair rate but not a typical repair duration, so this post does not give one.
Myth versus fact
- Myth: every cable cut is an attack. Fact: the figures cited by ITU say most disruptions are accidental or natural. Intent in any single incident is a matter for investigation.
- Myth: satellites carry most internet traffic. Fact: ITU's figure is about 99 percent by cable.
- Myth: one cut takes a whole region offline. Fact: rerouting usually keeps service going, with some degradation, though thin regions are more exposed.
Quick check
How many undersea cable faults happen each year?
ITU, citing the ICPC, reports about 150 to 200 breaches a year, requiring roughly three repairs per week.
Are most cable faults sabotage?
The ITU article says about 80 percent of disruptions come from accidental human activity or natural hazards, according to its partners.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
