Fiber optic submarine cables cuts cost modeling and cable protection aspects

•A model to calculate cost of repairing fiber optic cables cuts was developed.•Currently no models are available to account for both direct and non-direct costs.•5 types of cables, up to 100 km length operating at 10, 40 and 100 Gbps are simulated.•Templates to compare different cut and protection costs scenarios presented.•Up to 2.5 m cable burial depths’ costs for different cable lengths are illustrated.

This work presents a model to calculate costs associated with submarine fiber optic cable cuts. It accounts for both fixed and variable factors determining cost of fixing cables and restoring data transmission. It considers duration of a cut, capacity of fibers, number of fiber pairs and expected number of cuts during cable life time. Moreover, it provides templates for initial feasibility assessments by comparing cut costs to cost of different cable protection schemes. It offers a needed tool to assist in guiding decision makers in selecting type of cable, length and depth of cable burial in terms of increase in initial investment due to adapting such protection methods, and compare it to cost of cuts repair and alternative restoration paths for data.