Google Buys Part of Undersea Fiber Optic Cable

[POGE]

A consortium of six international companies announced they have executed agreements to build a high-bandwidth subsea fiber optic cable linking the United States and Japan. The construction of the new Trans-Pacific infrastructure will cost an estimated US$300 million.

The new cable system – named Unity – will address broadband demand by providing much needed capacity to sustain the unprecedented growth in data and Internet traffic between Asia and the United States. Unity is expected to initially increase Trans-Pacific lit cable capacity by about 20 percent, with the potential to add up to 7.68 Terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth across the Pacific.



According to the TeleGeography Global Bandwidth Report, 2007, Trans-Pacific bandwidth demand has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 63.7 percent between 2002 and 2007. It is expected to continue to grow strongly from 2008 to 2013, with total demand for capacity doubling roughly every two years.

"The Unity cable system allows the members of the consortium to provide the increased capacity needed as more applications and services migrate online, giving users faster and more reliable connectivity,” said Unity spokesperson Jayne Stowell.

The Unity consortium is a joint effort by Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, Google, KDDI Corporation, Pacnet and SingTel. The name Unity was chosen to signify a new type of consortium, born out of potentially competing systems, to emerge as a system within a system, offering ownership and management of individual fiber pairs.

This new 10,000 kilometer (km) Trans-Pacific cable will provide connectivity between Chikura, located off the coast near Tokyo, to Los Angeles and other West Coast network points of presence. At Chikura, Unity will be seamlessly connected to other cable systems, further enhancing connectivity into Asia.

The Unity consortium selected NEC Corporation and Tyco Telecommunications to construct and install the system during a signing ceremony held in Tokyo on February 23, 2008. Construction will begin immediately, with initial capacity targeted to be available in the first quarter of 2010.

The new five fiber pair cable system can be expanded up to eight fiber pairs, with each fiber pair capable of carrying up to 960 Gigabits per second (Gbps). By having a high fiber count, Unity is able to offer more capacity at lower unit costs.

Source: Google

[effmaster]

Originally Posted by POGE

A consortium of six international companies announced they have executed agreements to build a high-bandwidth subsea fiber optic cable linking the United States and Japan. The construction of the new Trans-Pacific infrastructure will cost an estimated US$300 million.

The new cable system – named Unity – will address broadband demand by providing much needed capacity to sustain the unprecedented growth in data and Internet traffic between Asia and the United States. Unity is expected to initially increase Trans-Pacific lit cable capacity by about 20 percent, with the potential to add up to 7.68 Terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth across the Pacific.



According to the TeleGeography Global Bandwidth Report, 2007, Trans-Pacific bandwidth demand has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 63.7 percent between 2002 and 2007. It is expected to continue to grow strongly from 2008 to 2013, with total demand for capacity doubling roughly every two years.

"The Unity cable system allows the members of the consortium to provide the increased capacity needed as more applications and services migrate online, giving users faster and more reliable connectivity,” said Unity spokesperson Jayne Stowell.

The Unity consortium is a joint effort by Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, Google, KDDI Corporation, Pacnet and SingTel. The name Unity was chosen to signify a new type of consortium, born out of potentially competing systems, to emerge as a system within a system, offering ownership and management of individual fiber pairs.

This new 10,000 kilometer (km) Trans-Pacific cable will provide connectivity between Chikura, located off the coast near Tokyo, to Los Angeles and other West Coast network points of presence. At Chikura, Unity will be seamlessly connected to other cable systems, further enhancing connectivity into Asia.

The Unity consortium selected NEC Corporation and Tyco Telecommunications to construct and install the system during a signing ceremony held in Tokyo on February 23, 2008. Construction will begin immediately, with initial capacity targeted to be available in the first quarter of 2010.

The new five fiber pair cable system can be expanded up to eight fiber pairs, with each fiber pair capable of carrying up to 960 Gigabits per second (Gbps). By having a high fiber count, Unity is able to offer more capacity at lower unit costs.

Source: Google

If this helps Google in bandwidth area for You Tube so they dont have to have advertisements for it then hell yeah.

[a111087]

dominating the World one fiber optic cable at a time

[btarunr]

Please Google, buy/build something in our seas, you'll earn billions. The current Sea-Me-We consortium is a bunch of Chinese whisper clowns who deliberately cut undersea cables and beg our governments for money to fix them.

Originally Posted by effmaster

If this helps Google in bandwidth area for You Tube so they dont have to have advertisements for it then hell yeah.

True that.

[Dangle]

Originally Posted by btarunr

Please Google, buy/build something in our seas, you'll earn billions. The current Sea-Me-We consortium is a bunch of Chinese whisper clowns who deliberately cut undersea cables and beg our governments for money to fix them.

I def agree.

[yogurt_21]

300 mil seems rather cheap for wht they're building, definetly a worthy investment.

[XooM]

what happened to all the dark fiber lying on the ocean bottoms? does that crap only run to europe? otherwise, wouldn't it be easier to just light it up?

[das müffin mann]

i wish i had a 7.68 tbps connection, god that would be bitchin, the things i could do...

[tiys]

And who says MS wants to take over the world?

[Esse]

Ohh when is someone coming to save Australasia

We pay so much for international bandwidth. Its either the Southern Cross Cable which is really expensive (thus oversold as no one can afford $500 Mbit p/m) or AsiaNetCom which is cheaper but up and down like a YoYo. Even have to pay the same for national traffic.

[hacker111]

OK buying a part of a cable? Why not buy the whole thing and get over it? Then they dont have to bother with the trouble of buying another peice and so on? Increases the Terabits? If they bought the whole cable then what? More boost..

[hacker111]

no swearing please.

[Triprift]

Originally Posted by Esse

Ohh when is someone coming to save Australasia

I hear ya man broadband in oz is so poor its imbaressing were meant to be getting fibre to the node but i rekon it will be years before we see anything.