Google Cloud And Facebook To Benefit From ‘Highest Capacity’ Transpacific Cable

Google and Facebook are among the backers of a new 12,800 kilometre subsea cable between Los Angeles and Hong Kong which will be highest capacity transpacific connection to date.

The Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) will be managed by a new company called the Pacific Light Data Communication Co (PLDC) and will use undersea communications specialist TE SubCom’s C+L technology.

This doubles the available bandwidth of a traditional C-band only system, providing a boost to cloud and web services.

Transpacific cable

“PLCN will be among the lowest-latency fibre optic routes between Hong Kong and the U.S. and the first to connect directly using ultra-high-capacity transmission,” said Wei Junkang, PLDC Chairman.

“It is certainly gratifying that global technology companies like Google and Facebook have become co-investors in PLCN. It is a strong signal that PLCN will be trusted to address the capacity needs for internet and international communications services throughout the Pacific Rim. We envision this deployment as the initial step in PLDC’s construction of a global network.”

Google said it invested in the cable to enhance its public cloud infrastructure, which comprises data centres, terrestrial networks and subsea connections. It has invested in six submarine cables so far, including FASTER, which stretches between the US and Japan, and is the current record holder for transpacific capacity.

From the get-go, PLCN is designed to accommodate evolving infrastructure technology, allowing us to independently choose network equipment and refresh optical technology as it advances,” explained Brian Quigley, director of Google Networking Infrastructure.

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“Most importantly, PLCN will bring lower latency, more security and greater bandwidth to Google users in the APAC region. In addition to our existing investments in APAC cloud regions and the FASTER cable system, PLCN expands our ability to serve people in Asia, including Google Cloud and G Suite customers.”

Earlier this week, Nokia claimed it had achieved a record data transmission rate of 65Tbps using technology it says can improve the speed and capacity of existing subsea cables and meet growing demand for consumer and business bandwidth.

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