Costa Rica
Costa Rica's documented connection to the global submarine cable network runs through ARCOS-1, a regional system linking the Caribbean and Central American coastlines to broader international capacity.
Connectivity at a glance
- Cable systems
- 1active
- Landing points
- 0
- Resilience score
- 9
Cable systems serving Costa Rica
| Cable | Status | Ready for service | Length | Design capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARCOS-1 | active | — | — | — |
Landing points
Landing point records for Costa Rica are being compiled.
Submarine cable connectivity
Costa Rica sits on the narrow isthmus connecting North and South America, a geographic position that places it within reach of both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. That dual-coast exposure is a potential advantage for submarine cable planners — cable systems approaching from either ocean basin can, in principle, find landfall on one shore or the other.
The cable documented as serving Costa Rica is ARCOS-1, an active regional system that threads through the Caribbean and along the Central American littoral. Beyond its active status, key details including ready-for-service year and total system length are not yet confirmed in this register and will be updated as documentation is verified.
What a single documented cable means for resilience
With only one cable system on record, Costa Rica's documented international submarine capacity is concentrated in a single route. That is not necessarily a complete picture — Pacific-side connections and any additional Caribbean landings may exist or be under development — but on the basis of confirmed records alone, the country presents a single point of dependency for submarine fibre traffic.
Single-cable reliance is a meaningful vulnerability for any market. Maintenance windows, fault repairs, or capacity limitations on ARCOS-1 would have a proportionally larger effect on Costa Rica than on countries served by multiple diverse systems. Redundancy in submarine networks typically comes from a combination of geographic diversity — landings on different coasts connecting to different ocean routes — and cable-system diversity, meaning multiple independent consortia operating separate infrastructure.
Costa Rica's isthmus geography makes geographic diversity achievable in principle, but whether that potential has translated into additional active cable infrastructure with Caribbean or Pacific landings remains to be confirmed in this register.
Landing points
No specific landing point locations in Costa Rica have been documented in this register. Confirming the precise beach manhole or cable landing station locations for ARCOS-1, and any other systems, is part of ongoing compilation work for this country profile.
Register status
This profile reflects the cables and landing points currently verified for Costa Rica. The register is actively compiled and cross-referenced against operator disclosures, regulatory filings and technical sources. Corrections and additions from operators, researchers or network engineers are welcomed through the site's contribution process.