What do multiple Baltic Sea cable cuts teach us about survival in telecoms?

At BalticNOG, Timur Pertenava, RETN’s Commercial Director for the Baltic & Nordic region, shared hard-learned lessons from recent subsea disruptions:

• Redundancy ≠ Resilience - Having two routes doesn’t help if they follow the same path. True diversification means understanding geography, choke points (like Suwałki), cross-border risks, and so much more.
• Expect repair delays - Cable repair ships are scarce. MTTR is now measured in months, not weeks. If you don’t plan additional capacity ahead, you’ll be at the back of the queue.
• Traffic shockwaves - When one operator’s network collapses, others see sudden traffic spikes. The stronger your route and PoP diversity, the better you withstand the ripple effect.

His DWDM survival tips:

• Diversify routes, PoPs, and vendors
• Prioritise multi-vendor interoperability
• Stock spare parts and plan logistics early
• Keep operational teams engaged and crisis-ready

RETN’s experience: Despite the LVRTC Latvia–Sweden cut (26 Jan 2025), our backbone and protected services had zero interruption - and even unprotected services were rerouted within 24 hours thanks to our FLEX grid system.

 The message for operators? Don’t just build networks that look resilient on paper. Build them to survive reality.