Fibre-optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) is a

fibre optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to ...

mostly-

submarine communications cable A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried tel ...

that connects the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and many places in between. The cable is operated by Global Cloud Xchange, a subsidiary of RCOM. The system runs from the eastern coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

to Japan. Its Europe-Asia segment was the fourth longest cable in the world in 2008. The Europe-Asia segment was laid by Cable & Wireless Marine in the mid-1990s, and was the subject of an article in ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'' magazine in December 1996 by

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work exp ...

Description

The FLAG cable system was first placed into commercial service in late 1997. FLAG offered a speed of 10 Gbit/s, and uses

synchronous digital hierarchy Synchronous optical networking (SONET) and synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) are standardized protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams synchronously over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diode ...

technology. It carries over 120,000 voice channels via of mostly undersea cable. FLAG uses

erbium-doped fibre amplifier An optical amplifier is a device that amplifies an optical signal directly, without the need to first convert it to an electrical signal. An optical amplifier may be thought of as a laser without an optical cavity, or one in which feedback fr ...

s, and was jointly supplied by AT&T Submarine Systems and KDD-Submarine Cable Systems. Its design, development, installation, and service conformed to

ISO 9000 The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO 90 ...

quality standards. FLAG provided a link between the European end of high-density transatlantic crossings and the Asian end of the transpacific crossings. FLAG includes undersea cable segments, and two terrestrial crossings. The segments can be either direct point-to-point links, or multi-point links, which are attained through branching units. At each

cable landing point A cable landing point is the location where a submarine or other underwater cable makes landfall. The term is most often used for the landfall points of submarine telecommunications cables and submarine power cables. The landing will either be ...

, a FLAG cable station is located. The total route length exceeds , and comprises of terrestrial crossings. Approximately of the submerged cable is buried below the sea bed. Cable burial was performed by either a submersible plough as the cable was laid, or jetting the laid cable into the sea bed via

remotely operated vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''. Definition This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the ai ...

s (ROVs). Over several years, the route evolved as new branches and feeder systems were considered and realized. FLAG includes two terrestrial crossings, one in Egypt, and the other in Thailand. Each of these land crossings is totally duplicated on fully different routes. As a result, any fault within one route will cause automatic protection switching to the other route within a time period of less than 50 ms. Like other global undersea networks, FLAG uses erbium-doped fibre amplifiers (EDFAs). EDFAs boost the optical signals instead of the optical/electrical conversion, which is generally used in regenerative technology. These

optical amplifiers An optical amplifier is a device that amplifies an optical signal directly, without the need to first convert it to an electrical signal. An optical amplifier may be thought of as a laser without an optical cavity, or one in which feedback fro ...

use short, gain-specific lengths of fibre which are doped with erbium ions, and spliced in-line with the transmission fibre. The signal power is amplified by pumping the erbium-doped fibre (EDF) with 1,480 nm laser light which is attached through an optical coupler. The majority of the repeater components are passive. These include EDF, fused-fibre optical couplers and optical isolators. Active components include laser pump assemblies, and associated controls. The total number of components within the repeater is lesser than that of regenerative systems. The FLAG terrestrial crossings do not contain repeaters for reliability reasons. The terminal stations in land crossings use optical amplifiers, high performance transmitter / receivers, and

forward error correction In computing, telecommunication, information theory, and coding theory, an error correction code, sometimes error correcting code, (ECC) is used for controlling errors in data over unreliable or noisy communication channels. The central idea is ...

to cross the large distances without repeaters. Amplification at the terminal output provides output signal power as high as +17 dBm, and optical amplification at the receiver improves the receiver sensitivity as much as 8 dB. The route between Alexandria and Cairo is long, and hence requires remote pumping in order to meet performance requirements. Remotely pumped amplifiers can be regarded as repeaters without active modules. This technology comprises short lengths of EDF spliced into the land cable. The erbium-doped sections are situated within the cable span, and are pumped by 1,480 nm pump lasers which are based at the station. An upgrade to the network was announced in 2006, when the acronym was expanded to "Fibre Loop Across Globe" (FLAG).

Segments and landing points

Cable landing point A cable landing point is the location where a submarine or other underwater cable makes landfall. The term is most often used for the landfall points of submarine telecommunications cables and submarine power cables. The landing will either be ...

s are:

Europe Asia

FLAG Europe Asia (FEA) was the first segment opened for commercial use on 22 November 1997.Coverage map > cable systems > FEA
, Reliance Globalcom. Retrieved 15 March 2014. *

Porthcurno Porthcurno ( kw, Porthkornow, Porthcornow, meaning ''"pinnacle cove"'', see below) is a small village covering a small valley and beach on the south coast of Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom. It is the main settlement in a civil and an ec ...

Skewjack Skewjack is the name of a plot of land in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated about 1.5 miles (2 km) east of Land's End on the B3315 road. It was the site of RAF Sennen, and is now the site of a Fibre-optic Link Around ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Estepona Estepona () is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its district covers an area of 137 square kilometers in a fertile ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, Spain *

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

Province of Palermo The Province of Palermo ( it, provincia di Palermo; Sicilian: ''pruvincia di Palermu'') was a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital was the city of Palermo. On 4 August 2015, it was replaced ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Italy *

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, Al Iskandariyah Governorate,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt *

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...

As Suways Governorate Suez Governorate ( ar, محافظة السويس ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country and is coterminous with the city of Suez. It is situated north of the Gulf of Suez. Municipal division ...

, Egypt *

Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...

Aqaba Governorate Aqaba ( ar, العقبة ''al-ʻAqabah'') is one of the governorates of Jordan, located south of Amman, capital of Jordan. Its capital is Aqaba. It is the fourth largest governorate in Jordan by area and is ranked 10th by population. Aqaba, the ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

Makkah Province The Mecca Province ( ar, مِنْطَقَة مَكَّة '), also known as the Mecca Region, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. It is the third-largest province by area at and the most populous with a population of 8,557,766 as of 201 ...

, Saudi Arabia * Fujairah, United Arab Emirates * Mumbai,

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India *

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

, Malaysia, meeting

SAFE A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

and SEA-ME-WE 3 * Satun, Satun Province, Thailand *

Songkhla Songkhla ( th, สงขลา, ), also known as Singgora or Singora (Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ), is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies south of Ba ...

, Songkhla province, Thailand * Silvermine Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong *

Nanhui Nanhui District (), formerly romanized as Nanhwei, was a district of Shanghai until it was merged into Pudong New Area in May 2009. It had a land area of about and a coastline. The population of Nanhui was as of August 2006. On May 6, 200 ...

, Shanghai, China * Keoje, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea * Ninomiya, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan * Miura, Kanagawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Atlantic

The FLAG Atlantic 1 (FA-1) segment became operational in June 2001. It was constructed as a joint venture between a FLAG Atlantic subsidiary of the parent company FLAG Telecom Holdings, and GTS Transatlantic. Alcatel Submarine Networks laid the undersea portion, and the entire cost was estimated at $1.1 billion. cable systems > FA-1"">"Coverage map > cable systems > FA-1"
, Reliance Globalcom. Retrieved 15 March 2014. * New York City,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States * Northport, Suffolk County, New York, United States * Island Park, Nassau County, New York, United States *

, England, UK * London, England, UK *

Plérin Plérin (; ; Gallo: ''Plérein'') is a coastal commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. The Marché du Porc Breton, located in Plérin, is where the price of pork is set for retailers across France.

, Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, France * Paris, France In March 2013, an upgrade for the southerly link was announced to up to 100 Gbit/s, with equipment from Ciena.

FLAG Alcatel-Lucent Optical Network

The FLAG Alcatel-Lucent Optical Network (FALCON) cable system, connecting India and several countries in the Persian Gulf, became operational in September 2006. It has landing points in: cable systems > FALCON"">"Coverage map > cable systems > FALCON"
Reliance Globalcom. Retrieved 15 March 2014. *

, Saudi Arabia * Port Sudan,

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Al Hudaydah Al-Hudaydah ( ar, الْحُدَيْدَة, al-ḥudayda), also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or Hodeidah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its principal port on the Red Sea. As of 2004, its population was 402,560 and it is ...

, Yemen * Al Ghaydah, Yemen *Al Seeb, Muscat, Oman *

Khasab Khasab ( ar, خَصَب, Ḫaṣab) is a city and local capital of the Musandam Governorate which is an exclave of Oman bordering the United Arab Emirates at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula by the Strait of Hormuz. It has been dubbed the "Norw ...

, Oman * Dubai, United Arab Emirates *Sumaisma, Doha, Qatar * Manama, Bahrain * Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia *Al-Safat,

Kuwait City Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...

, Kuwait * Al-Faw, Iraq * Bandar Abbas, Iran *

Chabahar Chābahār ( fa, چابهار, bal, چھبار, čahbàr; ; formerly ''Bandar Beheshtī'') is the capital city of Chabahar County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. It is a free port (free-trade zone) situated on the coast of the Gulf of ...

, Iran * Mumbai, India There is an additional segment, listed as part of FALCON, but not directly connected. It has landing points in: * Thiruvananthapuram,

* Hulumale, Malé, the Maldives * Colombo,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

In 2006,

Kenya Data Networks Econet, officially known as Econet Global Ltd, is a diversified telecommunications group with operations and investments in Africa, Europe, South America and the East Asia Pacific Rim, offering products and services in the core areas of mobile ...

announced plans for a spur from Yemen to Mombasa.

FLAG North Asia Loop / Tiger

FLAG North Asia Loop (FNAL) / Tiger became operational in stages, with the final stages completed in 2002. The FNAL landing points are: cable systems > FNAL"">"Coverage map > cable systems > FNAL"
, Reliance Globalcom. Retrieved 15 March 2014. *

Tong Fuk Tong Fuk (, formerly ) is a village and an area on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. It is a popular place for holiday recreation. Tong Fuk Beach, to the south of the village, is a popular local attraction alongside the other beaches of South Lant ...

, Lantau Island, Hong Kong *

Toucheng Toucheng Township () is an urban township in Yilan County, Taiwan. The township includes Guishan Island and Guiluan Island in the Philippine Sea. The Senkaku Islands, known in Mandarin as the Diaoyu Islands, are claimed as part of the township ...

, Yilan County, Taiwan * Busan, Yeongnam, South Korea * Wada, Awa District, Chiba Prefecture,

West of Mumbai, FLAG has a capacity of 80

Gbit The bit is the most basic Units of information, unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a truth value, logical state with one of two possible value (computer sc ...

/s. The segment between Lantau, Hong Kong, and Busan, South Korea was broken by the

2006 Hengchun earthquake The 2006 Hengchun earthquakes occurred on December 26 at 20:26 and 20:34 local time off the southwest coast of Taiwan in the Luzon Strait, which connects the South China Sea with the Philippine Sea. The International Seismological Centre measured ...

Disruptions

December 2006 and January 2007

The

on 26 December 2006, off the southwest coast of Taiwan, disrupted internet services in Asia, affecting many Asian countries. Financial transactions, particularly in the

foreign exchange market The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspec ...

were seriously affected as well. The disruption was caused by damage to several

January and February 2008

On 30 January 2008, internet services were widely disrupted in the Middle East and in the Indian subcontinent following damage to the SEA-ME-WE 4 and FLAG cables in the Mediterranean Sea. BBC News Online reported 70% disruption in Egypt and 60% disruption in India. Problems were reported in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. The respective contributions of the two cable systems to this blackout is unclear. Network outage graphs suggest that the two breaks occurred at 04:30 and 08:00 UTC. The cause of the damage was not declared by either cable operator, but news sources speculated the damage was caused by a ship's anchor near

. According to the

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...

, the

Kuwaiti government Kuwait is an emirate with a political system consisting of an appointed judiciary, appointed government (dominated by the Al Sabah ruling family), and nominally elected parliament. Executive branch The Constitution of Kuwait was approved and p ...

attributed the breaks to "weather conditions and maritime traffic". '' The New York Times'' reported that the damage occurred to the two systems separately near Alexandria and near

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. Egypt knew of "no passing ships" near Alexandria which has restricted waters. One day later, on 1 February 2008, the FALCON cable was also reported cut off Dubai. The first of two repair ships was in place by 5 February.

December 2008

On 19 December 2008, internet services were widely disrupted in the Middle East, and in the Indian subcontinent, following damage to the SEA-ME-WE 4, SEA-ME-WE 3, and FLAG FEA cables in the Mediterranean Sea. It is not known what has caused these multiple breaks, however, there was seismic activity in the Malta area shortly before the breaks were identified, although it is thought that the damage may be due to a ship's anchor or trawler net. According to FEA Cable System of Reliance Globalcom, the failure lay between

and

. Reliance Globalcom completed the repair on the FLAG EUROPE ASIA (FEA) cable on 29 December 2008, at 14:15 GMT. Customer services that were affected due to the cable cut have been restored back normal with the completion of repairs.

August 2009

Damage to FNAL caused by Typhoon Morakot was reported as affecting internet traffic to China on 18 August 2009.

January 2020

On 9 January 2020, Yemen’s FALCON connection was cut, causing an 80% drop in that nation’s capacity. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,

, Ethiopia all felt major effects from the same cut, and to a lesser extent

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

and Tanzania.Cut Undersea Cable Plunges Yemen Into Days-Long Internet Outage: The fragility of global internet infrastructure has left the entire Red Sea region struggling to connect.
Lily Hay Newman,

, 2020-01-13

GCHQ interception

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, it was revealed that

was the location of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) interception point on the Reliance Communications international fibre link, copying data to

GCHQ Bude GCHQ Bude, also known as GCHQ Composite Signals Organisation Station Morwenstow, abbreviated to GCHQ CSO Morwenstow, is a UK Government satellite ground station and eavesdropping centre located on the north Cornwall coast at Cleave Camp, betwee ...

, as part of GCHQ's

Mastering the Internet Mastering the Internet (MTI) is a mass surveillance project led by the British communications intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) budgeted at over £1 billion. According to reports in ''The Register'' and ''The Sunday ...

project.

References

External links

FlagTelecom.com
— official FLAG website {{DEFAULTSORT:Fibre-optic Link Around the Globe Submarine communications cables in the Indian Ocean Submarine communications cables in the Pacific Ocean Submarine communications cables in the Red Sea Submarine communications cables in the Arabian Sea Reliance Group Submarine communications cables in the Mediterranean Sea Submarine communications cables in the North Atlantic Ocean Telecommunications in India 1997 establishments in Maharashtra 2006 establishments in Maharashtra 2006 establishments in Kerala