The Leif Erikson submarine cable is a fiber-optic cable that connects the United States and Europe. It was named after Leif Erikson, a Viking explorer who is believed to have sailed to North America around the year 1000. The cable was first laid in 1999 and is operated by a consortium of telecommunications companies, including Verizon, TeliaCarrier, and Tata Communications.
The cable spans a distance of approximately 3,300 miles (5,300 kilometers) and has a capacity of 10 Gbps. It is designed to provide high-speed internet and telecommunications services between the two continents and has become a critical infrastructure for international communications.
The Leif Erikson cable is just one of many submarine cables that connect different parts of the world. These cables are vital to global communication and enable us to share information and communicate with people all over the world in real-time. While they are often invisible to us, these submarine cables play a crucial role in connecting the world and are a testament to the incredible advancements in telecommunications technology over the past few decades.