Facebook and Google partner to build new Trans-Pacific undersea cable

Cooperation among American internet giants is becoming increasingly widespread. The partnership between Google and Facebook to construct a trans-Pacific cable spanning nearly 13,000 km is the most recent example.

PLCN, a submarine cable connecting Hong Kong to Los Angeles

Facing ever-increasing bandwidth demands, American giants such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft continue to invest heavily in infrastructure designed to enhance their services. The Redmond-based firm and the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg entered into a strategic partnership in May 2016 to install a submarine cable connecting Virginia to Spain. This 6,600 km cable is set to optimize connection speeds between Europe and the United States, benefiting the services of both platforms. However, this agreement is merely a trial run for Facebook. The world’s most widely used social network has indeed entered into a partnership with another Silicon Valley giant, Google, to lead the Pacific Light Cable Network project. As the name suggests, this fiber optic cable will directly connect Asia to the West Coast of the United States. Notably, the two American giants are taking a different approach than other operators: rather than routing through Japan, the cable will run directly from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, spanning a distance of 12,800 km. Construction of this cable is scheduled to begin in late 2017, with commissioning expected in 2018. TE SubCom, a company specializing in the installation and management of undersea communication technologies, will oversee the construction. Pacific Light Data Communication serves as the primary Asian partner for Facebook and Google in this ambitious project.

120 Tb/s of bandwidth

The construction of the PLCN cable addresses the growing bandwidth requirements of Google and Facebook. Both companies are facing a steady increase in the number of users for their services within this region of the globe. Consequently, this cable will help better connect their U.S.-based data centers to their Asian clients. The Pacific Light Cable Network offers significant bandwidth—reaching up to 120 Tb/s according to Google—setting a new record for the Asia-Pacific region. This capacity would enable Facebook’s network to simultaneously support over 80 million high-definition videoconferences for its users, in addition to the platform’s other services. Google has not provided further details regarding the cable’s specific impact on its service performance. Stakeholders involved in the PLCN are free to select the technologies and equipment of their choice for the portion of the cable allocated to their respective services.