1 Feb
2008
1 Feb
'08
6:13 p.m.
Telecommunication facilities have rarely been targets of terrorism. There is only one known case - the Tamil Tigers destroyed a central office in Sri Lanka some years back. My guess is that terrorists want to kill people, not destroy optical muxes, Class 5 switches, and the like. And the undersea cable maps are not deliberately vague. There are very accurate maps on the Web so that fishing boats can avoid the cables, which every couple years cause a small fishing to capsize. Boats are the prinicipal threat. The next important threat is oceanic cross currents that erode the plastic cladding that protects the fiber and the copper rod that carries the power. Regards, Roderick.