how do telephones connect between continents? Are there phone lines between them?

Question

so if satellite is being used right now how come the phone rates are different in each countries? Why is it more expensive to call on some countries while some cost only a few cents? What's the basis for such rates?

Answer 1

there used to be, but now its mostly thru satellite! the Atlantic cable is still in use....the maintenance is fairly expensive, so satellite is much better and cheaper to use!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_telephone_cable

Answer 2

Transoceanic cables, in the form of fiber optic cabling, are the primary media for carrying communications among continents, due to its reliability, enormous bandwidth, and low latency (very small delay).

These cables terminate at switches which route your international phone call down to the subscriber.

Contrary to previous responses, satellite links for telephony are only a secondary path for connecting between continents because of the expense of leasing time on the satellites and the latency introduced in bouncing signals off the satellites between ground terminals. That's why there's noticeable delay when carrying on a voice conversation via satellite vs fiber cable.

Answer 3

Most of them are ran thru sat. but the cable under the Atlantic ocean is still in use.

Answer 4

there used to be cables under the sea but now its satellite

Answer 5

yes there is in the bottem of the ocean