Google to invest in transpacific cable system project
12 Aug 2014
Google is investing in a project to set up a trans-pacific cable system to deliver high-speed internet the English language website of China News Service, ecns, reported.
The $300-million underwater cable system, named Faster, would have a capacity of 60 terabits per second.
The network would connect two coastal locations in Japan with major US cities on the west coast, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.
The locations in Japan would be Chikura and Shima, and the network has been planned to connect to neighboring cable systems that would help extend the capacity to other Asian countries.
Urs Holzle, Google's senior vice president of technical infrastructure said, the company wanted its products to be fast and reliable, and that required a great network infrastructure, whether it was for the more than a billion Android users or developers building products on Google Cloud Platform.
Construction is expected to get underway soon. Google expects to bring the cable system into operation in the second quarter of 2016.
Other companies that would work with Google on the project, are - China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, KDDI, and SingTel.
Google, which currently operates its own super-fast ''Fiber'' TV and internet service in the Kansas City metropolitan area, is looking to extend its network to more cities in the US, Reuters reported.
The project would see involvement of other players including China Mobile's international unit China Mobile International, China Telecom Corp Ltd's international arm China Telecom Global, TIME Dotcom Bhd's Global Transit, KDDI Corp and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.
