Data's 21,000 km Journey: Odessa to Brazil via the USA
The journey of a data packet from Odessa, Ukraine, to the Asa Sul district, Federal District, Brazil, turned out to be more thrilling than expected. Instead of a direct route spanning 10,979 km, defined by the geodesic line between the two points, the data traveled an additional 10,285 km, reaching Fremont, USA, before heading back to South America. The resulting round-trip time (RTT) was 387 milliseconds, nearly four times the physical minimum of 110 milliseconds dictated by the speed of light in fiber-optic cables.
Key Providers and Reasons for Route Selection
The data's journey involved several major global transit operators and local networks. The traffic originated in Odessa, utilizing AS6876 TENET Scientific Production Enterprise LLC, a local Ukrainian provider, and AS199995 Omega Telecom LLC. It was then handed off to the AS6939 Hurricane Electric LLC network, one of the largest global transit operators known for its extensive peering agreements. This network played a central role in routing the packet through Prague, Fremont, and Chicago in the USA before it finally reached its destination in São Paulo, Brazil.
Why was the route so convoluted? The primary reason is the lack of direct peering agreements between Ukrainian and Brazilian networks, coupled with the geographic specifics of submarine cable landing points. Traffic is often routed through major hubs in the USA, such as Fremont and Chicago, as they provide high bandwidth and access to international routes. Transit economics also play a role: operators choose routes that minimize data transmission costs, even if this increases latency.
Practical Implications for Users
The 387-millisecond latency caused by this routing has significant implications for end users. For instance, during video calls on cloud platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, communication may be disrupted, and responses from participants may experience noticeable delays. For online gaming, where every millisecond counts, such latency can render gameplay impossible. RTT above 200 milliseconds is already considered critical for most cloud applications, including financial trading, where reaction speed directly impacts operational success.
Infrastructure Context and Nearby Events
The route through the USA resulted from regional infrastructure specifics. The Black Sea region lacks direct high-speed routes to South America, and submarine cables often route traffic through Europe or North America, where key hubs are concentrated. While the cable landing points in Odessa and São Paulo provide intercontinental connectivity, they lack direct links between each other.
Recently, this region has experienced natural disasters such as earthquakes in Romania and floods in Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine. For example, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 occurred 371 km from the packet's route on August 11, 2026, and another with a magnitude of 4.5 on October 19, 2026, at 367 km. However, despite their proximity, GeoCables monitoring shows that these events did not affect routing. Such phenomena did not impact key data transfer points or cables, confirming that the detour was solely due to network decisions.
Conclusion
This routing case from Odessa to Brazil is a vivid example of the complexities involved in global data transmission. GeoCables monitoring illustrates how infrastructure characteristics, peering agreements, and economic factors shape the final path of a packet. Such studies help identify weaknesses in intercontinental connectivity and provide opportunities to improve the quality of internet services for users worldwide.
