cablefyi 0.1.1

Submarine cables and landing points API client — cablefyi.com

cablefyi

Python API client for submarine cable data. Look up undersea fiber optic cable systems, explore landing station locations, query cable operators and owners, and retrieve route geometries — all from CableFYI, a submarine cable reference platform mapping the physical infrastructure of the global internet.

Over 95% of intercontinental data traffic travels through submarine cables laid on the ocean floor. CableFYI catalogs active and planned cable systems with their landing points, Ready-for-Service (RFS) dates, cable lengths, fiber pair counts, and design capacities — used by network engineers, telecom analysts, and infrastructure researchers.

Explore submarine cables at cablefyi.com — browse the cable map, search landing stations, and view operator data.

Table of Contents

• Install
• Quick Start
• What You Can Do
  • Submarine Cable Systems
  • Landing Stations
  • Cable Operators and Owners
  • Fiber Optic Technology
• Command-Line Interface
• MCP Server (Claude, Cursor, Windsurf)
• REST API Client
• API Reference
• Learn More About Submarine Cables
• Also Available
• Network FYI Family
• License

Install

pip install cablefyi                # Core (zero deps)
pip install "cablefyi[cli]"         # + Command-line interface
pip install "cablefyi[mcp]"         # + MCP server for AI assistants
pip install "cablefyi[api]"         # + HTTP client for cablefyi.com API
pip install "cablefyi[all]"         # Everything

Quick Start

from cablefyi.api import CableFYI

with CableFYI() as api:
    # Look up a submarine cable system
    cable = api.get_cable("marea")
    print(cable["name"])             # MAREA
    print(cable["length_km"])        # 6,605 km
    print(cable["rfs_year"])         # 2018
    print(cable["owners"])           # Microsoft, Meta, Telxius

    # List cables by country
    cables = api.list_cables(country="united-states")
    for c in cables:
        print(f"{c['name']}: {c['length_km']} km")

    # Search cable infrastructure
    results = api.search("transatlantic")

What You Can Do

Submarine Cable Systems

Submarine telecommunications cables are the backbone of the global internet. Each cable system consists of fiber optic strands encased in protective layers (polyethylene, steel wire, copper) laid on the ocean floor. Modern cables contain multiple fiber pairs, each carrying terabits per second using wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM).

Era	Capacity per Fiber Pair	Example Cable
2000s	640 Gbps	FLAG Atlantic-1
2010s	10-20 Tbps	AEConnect, Hibernia Express
2018+	20-80 Tbps	MAREA (224 Tbps total), Dunant
2024+	100+ Tbps	Firmina, Echo/Bifrost

from cablefyi.api import CableFYI

with CableFYI() as api:
    # Get full cable system details
    cable = api.get_cable("dunant")
    print(f"Name: {cable['name']}")
    print(f"Length: {cable['length_km']} km")
    print(f"Fiber pairs: {cable.get('fiber_pairs')}")
    print(f"RFS: {cable.get('rfs_year')}")
    print(f"Owners: {cable.get('owners')}")

Learn more: Cable Directory · Glossary

Landing Stations

Landing stations are the shore-based facilities where submarine cables come ashore and connect to terrestrial networks. Major landing hubs include Bude (UK), Marseille (France), Tuas (Singapore), and Virginia Beach (US) — each serving as a critical junction for dozens of cable systems.

from cablefyi.api import CableFYI

with CableFYI() as api:
    # List landing stations by country
    stations = api.list_landing_stations(country="united-kingdom")
    for s in stations:
        print(f"{s['name']}: {s.get('cable_count', 0)} cables")

    # Get landing station details
    station = api.get_landing_station("bude")
    for cable in station.get("cables", []):
        print(f"  {cable['name']}")

Learn more: Landing Stations · Guides

Cable Operators and Owners

Submarine cable ownership has shifted from telecom consortia to hyperscale cloud providers. Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon now own or co-own major cable systems, investing billions to control their network paths and reduce latency for cloud services.

Owner Type	Examples	Strategy
Hyperscalers	Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon	Private capacity, low-latency cloud
Carrier-neutral	SubCom, NEC, Alcatel (builders)	Build and maintain cables
Telecom consortia	Traditional multi-carrier ownership	Shared capacity, legacy model
Regional operators	Telxius, Aqua Comms	Specific corridor focus

from cablefyi.api import CableFYI

with CableFYI() as api:
    # List cable operators/owners
    operators = api.list_operators()
    for op in operators[:5]:
        print(f"{op['name']}: {op.get('cable_count', 0)} cables")

Learn more: Cable Operators · Glossary

Fiber Optic Technology

Modern submarine cables use optical fiber to transmit data as pulses of light. Key technologies include WDM (wavelength-division multiplexing) to carry multiple signals on different light wavelengths, EDFA (erbium-doped fiber amplifiers) to boost signals every 60-80 km, and coherent detection for high spectral efficiency.

Technology	Function	Impact
WDM	Multiple wavelengths per fiber	Multiplied capacity
EDFA	Optical signal amplification	60-80 km repeater spacing
Coherent detection	Phase + amplitude modulation	Higher bits/symbol
SDM (Space-division)	Multiple fiber cores	Next-gen capacity

from cablefyi.api import CableFYI

with CableFYI() as api:
    # Search for cables by technology or route
    results = api.search("pacific")
    for r in results:
        print(f"{r['name']}: {r.get('length_km', 'N/A')} km")

Learn more: Cable Technology · API Documentation

Command-Line Interface

pip install "cablefyi[cli]"

cablefyi cable marea                         # Cable system details
cablefyi search "atlantic"                   # Search cables
cablefyi country united-states               # Cables landing in US
cablefyi landing-stations united-kingdom     # UK landing stations

MCP Server (Claude, Cursor, Windsurf)

pip install "cablefyi[mcp]"

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cablefyi": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": ["--from", "cablefyi[mcp]", "python", "-m", "cablefyi.mcp_server"]
        }
    }
}

REST API Client

from cablefyi.api import CableFYI

with CableFYI() as api:
    cable = api.get_cable("marea")                          # GET /api/v1/cables/marea/
    cables = api.list_cables(country="united-states")        # GET /api/v1/cables/?country=united-states
    stations = api.list_landing_stations(country="uk")       # GET /api/v1/landing-stations/?country=uk
    results = api.search("google")                          # GET /api/v1/search/?q=google

Example

curl -s "https://cablefyi.com/api/v1/cables/marea/"

{
    "slug": "marea",
    "name": "MAREA",
    "length_km": 6605,
    "rfs_year": 2018,
    "owners": ["Microsoft", "Meta", "Telxius"]
}

Full API documentation at cablefyi.com/developers/.

API Reference

Function	Description
api.get_cable(slug)	Cable system details (length, capacity, owners)
api.list_cables(country)	List cables, optionally by country
api.list_landing_stations(country)	Landing stations by country
api.get_landing_station(slug)	Station details with connected cables
api.list_operators()	All cable operators/owners
api.search(query)	Search cables, stations, and operators

Learn More About Submarine Cables

• Browse: Cable Directory · Landing Stations · Operators
• Guides: Cable Guides · Glossary
• API: REST API Docs · OpenAPI Spec

Also Available

Platform	Install	Link
npm	npm install cablefyi	npm
MCP	uvx --from "cablefyi[mcp]" python -m cablefyi.mcp_server	Config

Network FYI Family

Part of the FYIPedia open-source developer tools ecosystem — internet infrastructure, cables, domains, and protocols.

Package	PyPI	npm	Description
cablefyi	PyPI	npm	Submarine cables, landing points, operators — cablefyi.com
tldfyi	PyPI	npm	TLD registry, domain extensions, WHOIS — tldfyi.com
ipfyi	PyPI	npm	IP geolocation, ASN lookup, CIDR ranges — ipfyi.com
protocolcodes	PyPI	npm	HTTP status codes, protocol references — statuscodefyi.com

License

MIT