Proposal:Cable Landing Station
| Cable Landing Station | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Proposed (under way) |
| Proposed by: | Trailrunner13 |
| Tagging: | telecom=cable_landing_station
|
| Applies to: |  
|
| Definition: | A facility where submarine telecommunications cables terminate on land. |
| Statistics: |
|
| Draft started: | 2026-03-07 |
| RFC start: | 2026-03-16 |
| Vote start: | 2026-03-30 |
| Vote end: | 2026-04-13 |
Problem Statement
This proposal covers Cable Landing Stations (CLS): locations where submarine telecoms cables terminate when they return to shore. Because a submarine cable is unique (it contains both optical fiber and a copper electrical conductor), terrestrial networks don't have sites quite like the CLS which combines SLTE (specialty long reach coherent DWDM, muxes and add / drop equipment) and PFE (high voltage DC electrical equipment to power optical amplifiers laying on the seabed). The CLS's core functions are:
- House the SLTE which terminates the optical network (transitioning the network from submarine to terrestrial technology) and interconnecting the submarine network with terrestrial networks
- House the PFE which supplies highly reliable electricity to the submarine cable to power submerged optical network amplifier devices
The most obvious existing tags for this location are:
building=yesorbuilding=service+telecom=exchangebuilding=yesorbuilding=service+telecom=data_center
TL;DR: exchange and data_center are not accurate representation of the CLS's function. Read on for more detail or jump down to Proposal.
In telecom, an exchange has two definitions:
- A telephone switching center (also called a
central_office(CO) or Public Exchange) which is a building containing equipment called a "circuit switch" (or just "switch") - A geographic area defined by a telecoms operator as part of a broader network architecture
The term exchange goes back to the origins of telephone networks. Today, with modern mobile and VoIP networks having largely replaced copper networks, the exchange and circuit switch as logical or physical objects are nearly extinct. Since a CLS has traffic interconnection... what might also be called traffic exchange... one can argue exchange is the right tag, but the historic exchange definition belongs to (and is only relevant for) copper networks. See this Comment.
As for data_center, the very words imply data storage devices, computer servers and other “IT equipment” with internal IP / ethernet networking being a supporting function and optical networking simply a byproduct of the site needing external connectivity. A CLS is an optical network termination and interconnect point: other than for systems dedicated to the CLS function, it would be unusual to install IT equipment at this location. For those that know this infrastructure, having a CLS inside a data center building is increasingly common, but the CLS function itself has not changed (i.e., it’s not data center “stuff” going on at a CLS). There's also strong argument that telecom=data_center should be formally migrated to building=data_center (a tag that's in the wild, but not found on building=*), but we'll leave that for another proposal.
Proposal
Add a new tag: telecom=cable_landing_station applicable to area or node .
Rationale
cable_landing_station is an apt, telecom industry standard term with its unique function recognized by many outside the industry including government stakeholders; e.g., national regulators, state / province environmental agencies, local government planners, etc.
Tagging
Cable landing stations are often dedicated stand-alone buildings very near the beach where a cable lands, thus are usually mapped by drawing an outline around the building=service area , then one would add telecom=cable_landing_station to the building.
If a cable landing station is colocated within a telecom=data_center, (or some other shared building=*) use a node tagged with telecom=cable_landing_station to mark the cable landing station's approximate position within the larger structure; e.g., a room or suite in the building=*.
Tag Table
Use the following tagging to describe a cable landing station:
| Key | Value | Comment | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
telecom=* |
cable_landing_station |
Telecom structure type / function | Mandatory |
| In combination with... | |||
building=*utility=* |
servicetelecom |
If a dedicated stand-alone building, associate the station with that building | Recommended |
operator=*name=*addr:=* |
<text> | The station's name (e.g., Ocean Beach CLS); operator (e.g., Telecoms Company, Inc.); and address | Optional |
landuse=*utility=* |
industrialtelecom |
If the building sits on its own land area , consider tagging the site boundary as well |
Recommended |
Examples
- https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1125255454 (Disused)
- https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/849866087 (Active)
- Verizon_Hillsboro_Cable_Landing_Station_-_Oregon.JPG: Verizon Data Center at Hillsboro, Oregon, USA which is host to multiple CLS facilities
- ACE%27s_Duynefontein_landing_station.jpg: Stand-alone CLS at Duynefontein, South Africa for the ACE cable system
- Greenland_Connect_Nuuk_Landing_Point.jpg: Stand-alone CLS at Nuuk, Greenland for the Greenland Connect and Greenland Connect North cable systems
Impact on Data Consumers
No expected impact to data consumers or rendering: this is a stand-alone tag.
Features/Pages affected
No expected impact to existing features or pages: this is a stand-alone tag.
External discussions
Comments
Please comment on the Discussion page.
Appendix
Original Proposal
Add a new tag: man_made=cable_landing_station applicable to area or node .
Alternatively, assuming telecom=* is an appropriate home for this object, perhaps something like this would be better:
This idea comes from an excellent community suggestion to follow patterns from man_made=pipeline and power=*:
Currently the telecom=* key space seems to be aimed more at copper network objects, but if optical networks can be accommodated, cable_landing_station would likely be easier to discover under telecom=* than under man_made=*. Additionally, this scheme would allow for easy extension to other common optical network facility types like:
facility=in-line_amplifierfacility=point_of_presencefacility=internet_exchange_pointfacility=carrier_hotel- Note: "facility" might not be the best word since it conjures the idea of a building / structure, so "function" or another word may be a better choice. Or introduce a sub-key like
telecom:function=*(e.g.,telecom:function=cable_landing_station).
Including combination sites; e.g., facility=point_of_presence;carrier_hotel;internet_exchange_point
Impact on Data Consumers if telecom=facility structure adopted
If telecom=facility + facility=cable_landing_station is the best solution, the following should likely change:
telecom=exchange(~25,000 OSM objects) becomestelecom=facility+facility=exchangeand icon rendering would need to be updatedtelecom=data_center(~4,000 OSM objects) becomestelecom=facility+facility=data_center
Features/Pages affected if telecom=facility structure adopted
If telecom=facility + facility=cable_landing_station is the best solution, the following should likely change: