Segment Analysis of Global Submarine Cable Market: Products, Applications, and End-Users

The global Submarine Cable market was valued at US$ 11.2 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach US$ 27.8 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 13.7% during the forecast period.

Submarine cables are specialized fiber-optic or electrical cables laid on the ocean floor to facilitate international telecommunications and power transmission. These engineering marvels form the backbone of global connectivity, carrying over 99% of international data traffic while also enabling renewable energy transmission between continents and islands.

The market for submarine cables is experiencing robust growth due to escalating internet traffic, offshore wind farm developments, and increasing international data dependencies. Emerging technologies like 5G, IoT, and cloud computing are creating unprecedented demand for high-bandwidth undersea infrastructure.

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Segmentation by Product Type

The submarine cable market can be divided into two primary product categories with distinct technological characteristics and applications:

1. Communication Cables

Modern submarine communication cables contain multiple fiber-optic pairs protected by specialized insulation materials, armoring, and waterproofing. They are designed to maintain signal integrity across thousands of kilometers while withstanding extreme ocean pressures.

Market Insight: Fiber-optic communication cables dominate the market, accounting for 83% of total submarine cable revenue in 2023. Recent advancements in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technology have enabled single cables to transmit 250+ terabits per second.
Trend: Content providers like Google, Meta, and Microsoft are increasingly financing private cable systems (e.g., Dunant, Marea) to meet their exploding bandwidth requirements, representing 66% of new cable investments.

2. Power Cables

Submarine power cables transmit electricity between national grids and offshore installations. High-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology is preferred for long-distance subsea connections due to lower transmission losses.

Market Insight: The power cable segment is growing at 18.4% CAGR—faster than communication cables—driven by offshore wind farm deployments and cross-border electricity interconnectors. Europe leads in submarine power cable deployment with projects like North Sea Link (1.4 GW).
Trend: Polyethylene-insulated HVDC cables are gaining traction over traditional paper-insulated designs due to better performance in deep-water environments up to 3,000 meters.

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Segmentation by Application

Submarine cables serve critical functions across multiple industries, each with unique technical requirements and growth drivers.

1. Communication Industry

The telecommunications sector relies entirely on submarine cables for intercontinental data exchange, internet backbone connectivity, and international voice services.

Insight: This application accounts for 73% of cable deployments by length, with major routes connecting North America-Europe (e.g., MAREA, AEConnect) and Asia-Pacific (e.g., Asia-Africa-Europe-1). Each modern cable system costs $200-$400 million for transoceanic spans.
Trend: Edge computing and content localization are driving demand for new cables with lower latency routes, such as Google’s Grace Hopper cable optimizing New York-London connectivity.

2. Offshore Wind Power Generation

Submarine cables are essential for connecting offshore wind turbines to onshore power grids, with both array cables (inter-turbine) and export cables (to shore) required.

Insight: This is the fastest-growing application segment, projected to expand at 22.1% CAGR through 2030. Europe currently hosts 65% of global offshore wind capacity, but Asia-Pacific is accelerating deployments in China, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Trend: Floating wind farms in deep waters require dynamic submarine cables that can withstand wave motion—a technical challenge driving R&D investments from manufacturers.

3. Offshore Oil & Gas

The oil and gas industry uses submarine cables for power supply to offshore platforms, communications, and control systems for underwater production equipment.

Insight: While growth is slower compared to renewables, this segment maintains steady demand for cable replacements and upgrades, particularly in mature fields like the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
Trend: Electrification of offshore platforms to reduce carbon emissions is creating new cable opportunities, particularly in Norway where 90+ platforms will be connected to shore power by 2030.

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Segmentation by End-User

1. Telecom Operators

Traditional carriers like AT&T, Vodafone, and China Telecom operate extensive submarine cable networks for wholesale bandwidth services and enterprise connectivity.

Insight: While still important, telecom operators’ share of new cable investments has declined to 34% as hyperscalers (Google, Meta, Microsoft) now lead deployment initiatives.
Trend: Many operators are transitioning to consortium models (e.g., 2Africa cable with MTN, Orange, etc.) to share costs while maintaining control over critical infrastructure.

2. Content Providers

Technology giants have become dominant forces in submarine cable infrastructure to support their global data centers, cloud services, and content delivery networks.

Insight: Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft collectively own or lease over 50% of transatlantic bandwidth capacity through private cable systems like Dunant, Marea, and MAREA.
Trend: Hyperscalers are pioneering new cable technologies, with Facebook’s 2Africa cable implementing optical switching to dynamically allocate capacity between landing points.

3. Energy Utilities

Power grid operators and renewable energy developers are major end-users of submarine power cables for interconnectors and offshore wind connections.

Insight: European TSOs (National Grid, TenneT, Statnett) are the most active, developing multi-GW projects like NorthConnect and NeuConnect to integrate renewable energy across markets.
Trend: The growing complexity of offshore wind projects is driving utilities to partner with cable manufacturers earlier in project development cycles.

4. Government & Defense

National governments invest in submarine cables for national security communications and to ensure connectivity resilience for critical infrastructure.

Insight: Defense applications represent a smaller but strategic segment, with projects like Australia’s Coral Sea Cable System enhancing Pacific island connectivity while securing national interests.
Trend: Geopolitical tensions are driving governments to fund alternative cable routes that avoid chokepoints like the South China Sea.

5. Oil & Gas Companies

Energy majors require submarine cables for offshore production facilities, particularly as digitalization increases data transmission needs from remote operations.

Insight: While less than 5% of market value, this segment maintains steady demand for maintenance, upgrades, and new projects in developing offshore basins.
Trend: Electrification initiatives are prompting oil companies to replace diesel generators with power-from-shore solutions using submarine cables.

The global submarine cable market demonstrates clear segmentation dynamics: By product, fiber-optic communication cables dominate current deployments while power cables show faster growth. By application, telecom remains largest but offshore wind exhibits most momentum. By end-user, a seismic shift is occurring as hyperscalers surpass traditional telecom operators in new investments.