Chicago, IL, United States

Chicago, IL, United States: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Chicago, Illinois, sits on the western shore of Lake Michigan in the Midwestern United States. Best known as the third-most populous city in the United States, Chicago is also home to a submarine cable landing point serving the freshwater lake corridor. One submarine cable is associated with this landing point, connecting Chicago to another location on the shores of Lake Michigan entirely within the United States.

The single cable here, the Lake Michigan Chicago Crossing, defines this landing point as an intra-national, lacustrine route rather than an oceanic or intercontinental one. This places Chicago in a distinct category among United States submarine cable landing points, serving a regional freshwater crossing rather than a long-haul transoceanic link.

Cables Landing at Chicago, IL

The Lake Michigan Chicago Crossing is the sole submarine cable at this landing point. Currently in draft status with a projected ready-for-service year of 2028, the cable connects two points within the United States, with Chicago serving as one terminus. As an entirely domestic cable, both of its landing points are located in the United States. No length or capacity figures are available for this cable at this stage of planning.

Regional Context

Within the United States, which hosts 113 submarine cables across 160 landing points, Chicago ranks among the more modest landing points by cable count, hosting a single cable and placing in the top 69 percent of the country's 167 landing points. By comparison, landing points such as Boca Raton, FL, and San Juan, PR, each host eight cables, while Hermosa Beach, CA, Kapolei, HI, and Myrtle Beach, SC, each host five. Chicago's profile is therefore smaller in cable count than many of the country's busiest submarine cable hubs, reflecting its role as a specialized freshwater-crossing terminus rather than a major coastal gateway.

Network Role

Chicago, IL, functions as a single-cable terminus in the United States submarine cable network. The Lake Michigan Chicago Crossing, once operational in 2028, will form a dedicated underwater route across Lake Michigan, linking Chicago to another domestic endpoint entirely within the country. This is not an intercontinental or oceanic route; instead, it represents an inland freshwater submarine cable serving a domestic corridor.

In the broader United States submarine cable graph, the existence of a lacustrine crossing at Chicago underscores the diversity of submarine cable infrastructure in the country, extending the concept of submarine cable deployment beyond ocean coastlines and into the Great Lakes system.