View source for TAT-14

{{Short description|Former transatlantic telephone cable}}
{{Infobox Submarine communications cable
| cable_name       = TAT-14
| map              =Map TAT-14.png
| owners           =<ref>{{cite web|title=TAT-14 General Committee|url=https://www.tat-14.com/tat14/gclist.jsp|website=TAT-14 Cable System|publisher=Sprint Corporation|access-date=18 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=TAT-14|url=http://www.insworldwide.com/project/tat-14/|website=International Network Systems|access-date=18 November 2017}}</ref> {{hlist
 | [[BT Group]]
 | [[AT&T]]
 | [[Deutsche Telekom]]
 | [[Vodafone]]
 | [[Verizon Communications]]
 | [[Sprint Corporation]]
 | [[KPN]]
 | [[Orange S.A.]]
 | [[Telia Company]]
 | [[Telenor]]
 | [[Etisalat]]
 | [[Level 3 Communications]]
 | [[OTEGlobe]]
 | [[Singtel]]
 | [[KDDI]]
 | [[StarHub]]
 | [[SoftBank Group]]
 | [[Zayo Group]]
 | [[Telesur (Suriname)|Telesur]]
 | [[Portugal Telecom]]
 | [[Slovak Telekom]]
 | [[Türk Telekom]]
 | [[TDC A/S]]
 | [[Tele2]]
 | [[Telus Communications|Telus]]
 | [[Tata Communications]]
 | [[Telefónica]]
 | [[Belgacom ICS|BICS]]
 | [[Elisa (company)|Elisa]]
 | [[CYTA]]
 | [[Rostelecom]]
}}
| technology       = Fiber optics with [[EDFA]] repeaters
| design_capacity  = 9.38 [[Terabit|Tbit]]/s
| current_capacity = 3.15&nbsp;Tbit/s
| length           = {{convert|15428|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| topology         = [[Self-healing ring]]
| first_use_date   = {{Start date|2001|03|21|df=y}} <!--source is German article and heise.de news-->
| decommissioning_date = {{End date|2020|12|15|df=y}}
| landing_points   =
{{unbulleted list
| {{flagicon|Denmark}} [[Blaabjerg]], Denmark
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Norden, Lower Saxony|Norden]], Germany
| {{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Katwijk]], Netherlands
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Saint-Valery-en-Caux|St-Valery-en-Caux]], France
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Widemouth Bay]], UK
| {{flagicon|United States}} [[Tuckerton, New Jersey|Tuckerton]]{{\}}[[Manasquan, New Jersey|Manasquan]], [[New Jersey]], United States
}}
}}
'''TAT-14''' was the 14th consortium [[transatlantic telecommunications cable]] system. In operation from 2001 to 2020,<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-20-369A1.pdf
| title = Report No. SCL-00267
| publisher = Federal Communications Commission
| date = 2020-04-02
| access-date = December 21, 2020
| quote = the TAT-14 submarine cable will be retired from service on December 15, 2020}}</ref> it used [[wavelength division multiplexing]]. The cable system was built from multiple pairs of fibres—one fibre in each pair was used for data carried in one direction and the other in the opposite direction. Although optical fibre can be used in both directions simultaneously, for reliability it is better not to require splitting equipment at the end of the individual fibre to separate transmit and receive signals—hence a fibre pair is used. TAT-14 used four pairs of fibres—two pairs as active and two as backup. Each fibre in each pair carried 16 wavelengths in one direction, and each wavelength carried up to an [[Synchronous optical networking|STM-256]] (38,486,016&nbsp;kbit/s as payload).<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the TAT-14 Cable Network |url=https://www.tat-14.com/tat14/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807210032/https://www.tat-14.com/tat14/ |archive-date=2020-08-07 |access-date=2023-01-14 |website=TAT-14}}</ref> The fibres were bundled into submarine cables connecting the United States and the European Union (United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark) in a [[ring topology]].<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/International/Orders/1999/da992042.txt
| title=CABLE LANDING LICENSE
| date=1999-10-01
| publisher=U.S. [[Federal Communications Commission]]
| access-date=2013-08-09}}</ref>

By the time this cable went into operation, the expected ''[[1990s United States boom|long boom]]'' (term coined by [[Wired (magazine)|''Wired'' magazine]]) was already ending in the ''[[Dot-com bubble|dot-com]] death''. The overinvestment in transcontinental [[optical fiber]] capacity led to a financial crisis in private cable operators like [[Global Crossing]].

In the [[Contents of the United States diplomatic cables leak#Europe|diplomatic cables leak]], it is revealed that the landing point in [[Katwijk|Katwijk, the Netherlands]] is included in a [[Federal government of the United States|US Government]] list of [[critical infrastructure]] susceptible to [[Terrorism|terrorist attack]].<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/binnenland/vs-wijst-knelpunten-nederland-aan
| title=VS wijst knelpunten Nederland aan
| date=2010-12-06
| publisher=[[RTL Nieuws]]
| language=nl
| access-date=2013-08-09
| archive-date=2017-01-01
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101013425/http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/binnenland/vs-wijst-knelpunten-nederland-aan
| url-status=dead
}}</ref>

Use of the cable was ceased on December 15, 2020, shortly after the [[Havfrue]] cable, whose main trunk also lands at Blaabjerg, was lit in November 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.telegeography.com/out-with-the-old-cables-in-with-the-new|title=Out With the Old Cables, in With the New|date=2020-12-21}}</ref> In 2021 the permanent dismantling of the system was begun.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ien.eu/article/upcoming-dismantling-of-the-tat-14-submarine-cable-system/|title=Upcoming Dismantling of the TAT-14 Submarine Cable System|date=2021-05-11}}</ref>

== Cable failure ==

In November 2003, TAT-14 suffered two breaks within weeks of each other, first on the southern link between the US and UK, then on the link between France and the Netherlands which had been providing redundant service to the UK via the northern link through Denmark, resulting in disruption to Internet services in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news
| url=https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/networking/cable-failure-hits-uk-internet-traffic-3039118125/
| title=Cable failure hits UK Internet traffic
| first=Graeme
| last=Wearden
| date=2003-11-26
| work=[[ZDNet]]
| access-date=2013-08-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/top-stories/376427/net-failure-hits-uk
| title=Net failure hits UK
| first=Andrew
| last=Craig
| date=2003-11-26
| publisher=webuser.co.uk
| access-date=2013-08-09}}</ref>

On May 19, 2014, preliminary reports from hosting provider [[DigitalOcean|Digital Ocean]] suggested that TAT-14 was the cause for the disrupted services between the EU and the US.<ref>{{cite web
| url=https://status.digitalocean.com/incidents/6782mtcjgxg9
| title=Network Outage in EU affecting AMS1 and AMS2
| date=2014-05-19
| publisher=[[DigitalOcean]]
| access-date=2018-01-30}}</ref>

==Decommissioning of the TAT-14==
Subsea Environmental Services has removed and recycled the cable shore-ends in the U.S., U.K., France, Denmark and The Netherlands as well as the deep-water segments in the North Atlantic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Subsea Cable System |url=https://redpenguinmarine.com/case-studies/red-penguin-to-advise-on-tat-14-cable-decommissioning/ |website=Red Penguin Marine |access-date=17 October 2024 |date=2024-03-05}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716211819/https://www.tat-14.com/tat14/index.jsp |title=TAT-14 Cable System |date=July 16, 2012}}

{{Transatlantic telecommunications cables}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tat-14}}
[[Category:Transatlantic communications cables]]
[[Category:Infrastructure completed in 2001]]
[[Category:BT Group buildings and structures]]
[[Category:AT&T buildings]]
[[Category:Deutsche Telekom]]
[[Category:Vodafone buildings and structures]]
[[Category:Verizon]]
[[Category:Sprint Corporation]]
[[Category:KPN]]
[[Category:Orange S.A.]]
[[Category:Telenor]]
[[Category:Level 3 Communications]]
[[Category:KDDI]]
[[Category:SoftBank Group]]
[[Category:Telus]]
[[Category:Telefónica]]
[[Category:Rostelecom]]
[[Category:Science and technology in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Tata Communications]]
[[Category:2001 establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:2001 establishments in New Jersey]]
[[Category:2020 disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:2020 disestablishments in New Jersey]]