Cloud companies are paying for internet routes that avoid the same dangerous strait

Google and Meta have begun carrying some live traffic across Iraq on a land route previously held in reserve, according to a person familiar with the arrangements interviewed by Rest of World. Its October 7 report also says Google paid a premium for fibre running along Turkish pipelines. Neither company responded to the outlet.

The reason is geographical concentration. More than 90% of Europe–Asia data capacity passes through the Red Sea, the report says. Buying capacity on another cable provides little protection if it crosses the same narrow waters near Yemen.

Repair access is another constraint. Industry specialists describe work that might technically take weeks stretching into months while operators secure permits and assurances that ships can work safely. A cable need not be permanently destroyed to become commercially unavailable for a damaging period.

Microsoft’s September 23 announcement independently confirms the investment direction: it plans more than $400mn for Middle Eastern subsea and terrestrial connectivity by 2030. That is a future commitment, not evidence that all alternative capacity already exists.

Analysis: resilience requires routes with genuinely different failure modes. Overland links introduce their own political and operational dependencies, but can reduce exposure to a single maritime chokepoint. The premium buys geographical separation as much as bandwidth.