Americas-I North

Overview

Americas-I North is a submarine cable system operating entirely within United States territory, spanning a total length of 2,012 km. The cable connects two landing points — Magen's Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Vero Beach, Florida — forming a domestic link within the broader U.S. submarine cable network.

Route and Landings

Both landing points on Americas-I North are located within United States jurisdiction. The cable comes ashore at Magen's Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands and at Vero Beach on the Atlantic coast of Florida. No international landings are associated with this system.

Ownership and Operators

Americas-I North is owned by AT&T, one of the United States' largest telecommunications carriers, which has historically maintained an extensive portfolio of submarine cable assets across multiple ocean regions.

Status and Timeline

The cable entered service in 1994, making it one of the earlier submarine systems to land in the United States. As of the time of writing, Americas-I North has been operational for approximately 32 years, placing it among the more established systems in the U.S. domestic submarine cable inventory.

Regional Context

The United States is served by 75 submarine cables landing across 119 distinct points, with an average cable length of around 5,553 km. At 2,012 km, Americas-I North sits below that average, and is longer than roughly 28% of the other cables touching the same corridor. The regional peers with which it shares a presence in U.S. waters are substantially longer international systems — including Project Waterworth, the Southern Cross Cable Network, South America-1, GlobeNet, Bulikula, and the Asia-America Gateway Cable System — all of which extend far beyond U.S. territory and serve intercontinental routes. Americas-I North, by contrast, operates at a domestic scale, connecting the U.S. mainland with the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Strategic Role

By linking Vero Beach, Florida with Magen's Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Americas-I North provides a dedicated subsea connection between the continental United States and its Caribbean territory. This domestic route supports telecommunications continuity between the mainland and the Virgin Islands, a corridor otherwise dependent on satellite or longer cable paths transiting additional territories.