Historically, the British Crown heavily monopolized global communication by controlling over half of the world's undersea telegraph networks, using private domestic firms as instruments of imperial leverage. Fast forward to today, and we see private hyperscalars and tech conglomerates financing and controlling a massive share of subsea fiber-optic cables. Does this modern corporate control mirror the historical monopolies of the British Empire, or are the geopolitical risks entirely different now? How do modern state actors navigate their security when critical infrastructure is owned by multinational tech firms rather than a single sovereign empire.