This is literally the article that resulted in my mid-1990s teenage self being motivated to work in ISP core network engineering, which is what I've been doing now for twenty years...

I wish Stephenson would write more things like this in addition to his novels.

It's cool seeing the map of the cable he writes about, FLAG: https://www.submarinecablemap.com/submarine-cable/flag-europ...

Such an amazing piece of writing. I think it's also the longest piece Wired ever published.