In other words, if public interest shifted to some kind of mesh network, perhaps the devices could be improved enough to support the load.
That said, I don't know much about mesh networking at all, the routing methods it uses, or if it's even possible to support what I'm talking about.
It also has to contend with the existing, established infrastructure so probably won't see many large investments any time soon.
I still think it would be a decent alternative to what we have now if it could overcome bandwidth/latency limitations.
Of course, at first it will suck, and it will be limited to neighborhood meshes.. from there perhaps it can start to branch out and connect to other neighborhoods, then city to city, until we finally have a decent internet.
Its going to be up to the web development community in its entirety- front and back end- to make the push, by showing neighborhoods that mesh nets are worth the investment.
Perhaps though, this is what we need to get a true internet. I'm curious as to how Berners-Lee and company would have redone it, perhaps they will have their chance.
More seriously, back in the old days:
... the Usenet link to Australia was a daily batch of tapes flown by 747. High bandwidth, but long ping times.
One of the first publicly-accessible network links between the US and Europe ... was a 9600 BAUD line.
I'd cite both of these in more detail, but the book is buried somewhere in archives presently. A late 1980s / early 1990s (just prior to the dawn of the public Internet) item.
More generally, though, to address your question, oceans aren't the problem. We've got ocean links.
It's the last mile, between you and the local on-ramp. That's where Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and TWC have their monopolies, which need breaking up.
I'm wondering if Egypt has reconsidered its actions...
http://www.worldcat.org/title/introducing-internet-to-egypt-...
It might be John McConnell's Internetworking computer systems : interconnecting networks and systems (1988):
http://www.worldcat.org/title/internetworking-computer-syste...
Prentice Hall seems right for the publisher, though I'm not positive on the title. Date seems a year or three early.
Possibly John Quartman's The Matrix, 1990, which sounds closer to the right date:
https://www.amazon.com/Matrix-Computer-Networks-Conferencing...
You might be able to cross the Baring Strait with a LOS microwave relay -- there's a somewhat fanciful video which explores the possibility of driving from Tierra del Fuego to London. It's only really hard in a few areas, one of the more problematic being Guatemal.
Conceptually, tunnelling or bridging (my option would be the former) the Straight is within reason (51 km, compare the Gotthard Base tunnel at 35.5 km). It's creating all-season driveable roads (or trainable tracks) across Alaska and Siberia which are the more formidable challenges.
But for the Atlantic? Cable. Seriously.
And the Lima - Sydney tunnel is going to take a while to dig.
a central body will need to maintain those lines and would be critical to the mesh
Either fibre, satellite or old radio relay.