Thanks to a joint partnership between Google and a number of telecom companies in East Asia, the fastest transpacific broadband cable in the world is now online. Aptly named FASTER, the cable stretches 5,600 miles from Oregon to two points in Japan. The cable is expected to offer transfer speeds as fast as 60 terabits per second – about ten million times faster than an average cable modem. Google has reserved exclusive access to a pair of optical transmission strands that are expected to provide the company with transfer speeds up to 10 terabits per second.
With FASTER complete, Google now owns a total of four undersea cables that cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. With the global demand for bandwidth continuing to increase, we’re likely to see more private enterprises investing in their own undersea cables in the future as well.Google’s interest in the FASTER project was twofold. To begin with, it will allow the company to expand its new Google Cloud Platform in the East Asia region from its new facility in Tokyo. Needless to say, Google’s cloud service will require a great deal of bandwidth to maintain. The second reason Google chose to invest in the project was to establish a redundant connection in the seismically-active region of the Pacific. This way, if an earthquake knocks out one undersea cable, North America can retain an internet connection with Japan and the rest of the East Asia region. According to a blog post from Google, “The cable utilizes Japanese landing facilities strategically located outside of tsunami zones to help prevent network outages when the region is facing the greatest need.”
With FASTER complete, Google now owns a total of four undersea cables that cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. With the global demand for bandwidth continuing to increase, we’re likely to see more private enterprises investing in their own undersea cables in the future as well.
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