How do internet cables that go under the ocean simultaneously handle millions or even billions of data transfers?

Question

I understand the physics behind how the cables themselves work in transmitting light. What I don’t quite understand is how it’s possible to convert millions of messages, emails, etc every second and transmit them back and forth using only a few of those transoceanic cables. Basically, how do they funnel down all that data into several cables?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

1. The cables are huge, and there’s a lot of them
2. They use fiber optics, which means they communicate through light. Light can have different colors, so if you use 6 colors instead of 1 color, you multiplied your bandwidth by 6.