@Collins it is possible, however it can't beat fiber due to the following reasons: - copper prices have skyrocketed of late - thugs from the hood will dig it up as soon as you bury it! - OFDM and other optical multiplexing tech which results in fiber having throughput in the order of many times over what copper can do. In this case, upgrading the undersea cable links should mostly be through changing the terminal equipment. See this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13469924 Copper still has some use e.g. upgrading an old building by using the existing copper infrastructure within. Most cases I've noted however do this through 1Gbps Ethernet. As for 10Gbps...maybe those who set up wired networks for a living can chip in on its use locally - 10G terminal devices don't come cheap.