US leads internet outage preparedness ranking

The US tops TRG Datacenters’ internet outage preparedness ranking through dense cable and exchange capacity.

The study reviewed nearly 100 countries on submarine cable counts, internet exchange points, cybersecurity readiness, electricity access, and internet usage. The US records a vulnerability score of 0, followed by Indonesia at 10.3, and the United Kingdom at 16.2.

Cloud platforms, SaaS suites, payment rails, and remote work still travel across physical cables, local exchange facilities, and power grids. A cut on the ocean floor, a peering fault, or a carrier-level incident can isolate offices even when an application stack remains nominally available in another region.

TRG Datacenters based their score on alternate physical routes plus supporting conditions. Submarine cables and internet exchange points count as backup paths when one connection fails.

Cybersecurity Index GCI scores and electricity access percentages sit alongside those counts because cables and hubs do little without power or basic protection. Lower vulnerability scores indicate greater national backup capacity under the study’s methodology.

US network density underpins national internet resilience

The US holds the strongest position in the table. TRG Datacenters counted 115 undersea cables, the most of any country studied, and 209 internet exchange points, also the highest total. Electricity access covers 100 percent of the population. The cybersecurity score stands at 99.9 out of 100. Internet usage reaches 94.7 percent.

Cable volume expands the set of international paths available when one system fails. Operators can steer traffic through other landing stations and systems where capacity exists. The headline numbers do not, by themselves, prove route independence for every customer. Landing-site clustering, carrier market share, and domestic backhaul still shape real outcomes.

Exchange points add a second layer—they let networks exchange traffic closer to users rather than always hauling it through distant transit. The US total of 209 reflects a large base of commercial and regional interconnection points. That national inventory still leaves individual organisations responsible for their own last-mile choices, DNS providers, identity paths, and application topology.

Indonesia and the UK demonstrate alternate paths to backup capacity

Indonesia ranks second with a vulnerability score of 10.3. The country operates 72 submarine cables and 77 internet exchange points. The nation’s cybersecurity score reaches 100, electricity access covers 99.4 percent of the population, and internet usage stands at 72.8 percent.

The exchange-point count exceeds Japan’s 27 by a wide margin even though Japan holds 50 cables. Indonesia’s geography forces traffic across water and islands, which makes alternate domestic and international routes operationally relevant. Local peering can keep traffic inside the country when an offshore route slows or fails.

The UK ranks third with a vulnerability score of 16.2. TRG Datacenters lists 65 undersea cables and 30 internet exchange points. Electricity access and cybersecurity both reach full marks. Internet usage hits 95.5 percent and the study places the UK as Europe’s best-prepared country for a continent-wide network breakdown.

Procurement teams should still separate national ranking from supplier contracts. Two circuits from two carriers can share a metropolitan fibre path, a building entry, a cable landing station or an upstream autonomous system. Contract diversity does not equal path diversity without mapping that proves independent failure domains.

Japan, Brazil, and the rest of the top ten

Japan ranks fourth with a vulnerability score of 19.9. The country runs 50 undersea cables and 27 internet exchange points. Cybersecurity scores 97.6. Electricity access covers the full population while internet usage stands at 85.5 percent.

Brazil places fifth at 21.1. It holds 26 submarine cables, described as the highest total in South America in the study, and 53 internet exchange points—more than double the UK count. Cybersecurity scores 96.5 and electricity access reaches 99.8 percent. Australia follows at 21.5 with 34 cables and 36 exchange points.

France and Italy both score 22.1. France lists 34 cables and 26 exchange points; Italy lists 37 cables and 22 exchange points. Italy has a perfect 100 cybersecurity score while France is only a single point behind with 99.

India ranks ninth at 23.4 with 22 cables, 40 exchange points, 99.5 percent electricity access, and a 98.5 cybersecurity score. Sweden closes the top ten at 24.3 with 28 cables, 22 exchange points, and a 99.3 cybersecurity score.

The spread shows that cable count, exchange density, power coverage and cyber scores all interact. A high exchange-point total can offset a lower cable number for domestic traffic. Full electricity access across a population does not describe data-centre generator fuel contracts or dual utility feeds at any specific facility. Internet usage percentages describe user reach, not enterprise recovery capability.

Cable cuts remain a common cause of internet outages

TRG Datacenters cites cable damage near Saudi Arabia in September 2025 that slowed service across India, Pakistan, and the UAE for days. Accidents caused many of the faults, including ship anchors striking cables. When a country depends on few cables, one incident can leave slow service while repair ships locate, splice, and test the route.

Eric Winegar, Managing Partner at TRG Datacenters, said: “Most people don’t think about internet infrastructure until it stops working. Almost all international internet traffic runs through cables laid on the ocean floor, not satellites.

“In September 2025, cut cables near Saudi Arabia slowed the internet down across India, Pakistan, and the UAE for days. Most of these cuts aren’t attacks either; they’re mostly from the ships dropping their anchor in the wrong place. When a country only has a few of these cables, one accident can cause weeks of slow service while repair crews get out to fix it.”

Repair timelines depend on vessel availability, weather, depth, and national permitting. Rerouting can keep services online while latency and congestion rise on the remaining paths. Enterprises that only test complete site blackouts understate those partial failure modes.

Organisations should treat the ranking as input to location risk reviews, connectivity tenders, and disaster recovery exercises rather than as a substitute for network design. Multi-country operations need a co-dependency map that links each business service to circuits, carriers, cloud on-ramps, DNS, content delivery, identity systems, VPN gateways, and critical SaaS endpoints.

Failover tests should cover degraded connectivity in addition to total loss. Applications that stay “up” but fail under high latency or packet loss still drive revenue and operations losses. Staff need known alternate channels to ensure continuity of priority functions.

Enterprises that understand their routes, test their dependencies, and avoid false diversity will fare better when physical systems fail.

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