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Google Planning New Undersea Cable Across Pacific?
tregetour writes "Google is planning a multi-terabit undersea communications cable across the Pacific Ocean for launch in 2009, Communications Day reports: 'Google would not strictly confirm or deny the existence of the Unity plan today, with spokesman Barry Schnitt telling our North American correspondent Patrick Neighly that "Additional infrastructure for the Internet is good for users and there are a number of proposals to add a Pacific submarine cable. We're not commenting on any of these plans." However, Communications Day understands that Unity would see Google join with other carriers to build a new multi-terabit cable. Google would get access to a fibre pair at build cost handing it a tremendous cost advantage over rivals such as MSN and Yahoo, and also potentially enabling it to peer with Asia ISPs behind their international gateways — considerably improving the affordability of Internet services across Asia Pacific.'"
So will the NSA tap it at the google datacenter with their permission ala AT&T or will the Navy have to tap it will one of those fancy subs we keep hearing about that lifts the cable off the seabed and can splice without interruption?
Because you know there's no way "homeland security" is letting that happen without monitoring.
You know with these kinds of resources, if Google ever did turn evil, we'd never figure it out until it was far too late...
...And allowing it to (dis)allow oppressive governments to continue to block/monitor Internet access.
This may have been a brilliant move on Googles' part. Fully cooperate with the Chinese governments' "Great Firewall" until they could put themselves in a position to undermine that authority.
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
I think it is great if it is true. I like the redundancy plan. But, since they don't specify the route, I am very skeptical. On the other hand, who am I to talk. I have never put a job opening on Monster looking for a "submarine cable negotiator." That is frickin' hilarious.
Me? I would go up through Alaska, through Russia via the Bering Sea. Cap'n Sig would do most of the work for me on the Northwestern. I would avoid doing a Portland-to-Tokyo route because of the ring-o-fire thingy.
I fell in to a burning ring of fire, I went down,down,down and the flames went higher. And my mod went lower.
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
Why are we trying to reduce the cost of Asian providers when the US' is still overpriced, unreliable, and underserved?
Last time I checked, Japan and SK had amazing speeds (10-100mbit) for very affordable prices. It's still a matter of government intervention, not corporate meddling.
As I understand it, Australia (and probably everyone else, for that matter) has been getting reamed by the USA as regards Internet peering arrangements. Bandwidth costs have always been higher here, and it's not all to do with a lack of local competition, although that used to be a credible story back when Telstra was charging twenty cents a megabyte for permanent dial-up connectivity. These days the economic pressure is mostly conspicuous for the fact that local hosting services are so expensive. If Google busts up that cosy little oligopoly, I'll love them to bits for it. To gigabits, even. (Sorry. Preemptive pun. Someone had to do it.)
Is this a part of Google's answer to the whole carrier sabre-rattling about non-neutrality and wanting a slice of Google's profits? There's no better way to ensure fair treatment than to provide your own infrastructure. Is this Google's way of saying to the carriers, "get over it, guys -- bandwidth is a fricken commodity now, and we're going to compete with you to make it so, so kiss your old monopoly profits goodbye." There's a high barrier to entry in this market, and you'd be mad to buy your way in only to compete all the profits out of it -- unless you happen to be a major consumer of bandwidth yourself, like Google.
Must... not... get... hopes... up...
proof, n. A demonstration that a conclusion is implied by certain premises and axioms.
What about Africa? This is a continent that needs Internet access more than any other and a new undersea cable is embroiled in bitter political animosity IMHO Google could generate a lot of good will for itself focusing in the area that needs the most attention.
Now they wont even have to run their spiders anymore, nor use gmail to create targeted ads.
They will just snoop everybodies traffic....
HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
I guess that's one way to achieve net neutrality. Now they just need to run their own backbone to every major peering point and ISP in the rest of the world...
>Submarine's run on cables?!
Submarine means "under water", you subliterate.
In the US and its helper countries, they just get rack space where needed.
So the best way is to get as much of the worlds data moving via NSA friendly countries.
For everything else, there's the USS Jimmy Carter to bend the fiber.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Don't get the vapors, everyone. Google is buying one fiber pair. This will lower their costs, but only that. There will be, what, 200+ fiber pairs in that cable. There will be some to go around if anyone else wants to pony up.
As for "considerably improving the affordability of Internet services across Asia Pacific,'" I don't follow that at all. Google doesn't sell transit. The new cable might do that, but not because of Google - because real ISPs will get other fiber pairs and use them to sell transit.
Next, we'll get articles about how Google's corporate jets will revolutionize air transport in North America ! (At least, for Google execs.)
If any stupid net.neutrality laws get passed it gives the goog bargining power. "oh hello data pipe operator. Want to peer with us? We have Asia. We'll trade you for unfettered access to the americas"
fibre is currency in this century.
Need Mercedes parts ?
When did Google hire Randy Waterhouse?
I was prompted me to look at the wikipedia and found this interesting article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_communications_cable
I particularly found very interesting the map with all the undersea cables in the world. Pretty cool.
They're going to build Rapture under the sea!
As an Oklahoma resident, feel lucky if you even get DSL. Until Real Competition occurs, there will be no decent high-speed Internet in most areas outside medium cities. If a small town/rural Oklahoma region has even slow DSL, it is probably because the Law States they must have it order to be the telco monopoly in that area, etc... Though the phone company may claim service is available in my RURAL area, bridge-taps galore and 1970's equipment/wiring make this a non-reality. So.... I got a HAM Radio license, Bought 2 towers and 2 TR-6000 radios (http://www.tranzeo.com/products/radios/TR-6000-Series) with 2 high-gain directional dish antennas and 2 bi-directional amplifiers. Thanks to a strategically purchased rental property IN TOWN ON A HILL, I bridge the connection from its DSL to my home. Normally, the Amps are extreme overkill, but I live in the middle of the Greenbelt of Oklahoma (think dense 30-40ft. Oak Trees) and the Fresnel Zones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_zone) are a real bitch with tree leaves. Works like a champ. Why not Satellite, AWFUL Latency and VERY HIGH Prices!
You are assuming that google is not an NSA front. Think about it, they monitor and record your web browsing habits, your travel plans, they scan your email, they want you to use their online word processor, ... That wanting to know everything about you and your behaviors and interests for the purpose of directed commercial advertising is a beautiful front. ;-)
This may have been a brilliant move on Googles' part. Fully cooperate with the Chinese governments' "Great Firewall" until they could put themselves in a position to undermine that authority.
The Google office, all the data it collected on Chinese individuals, and one end of that cable all exist in Chinese territory. Google operates at the pleasure of the Chinese government. The day Google attempts to move against that government is the day all Google's property and data becomes property of the government and Google's employees are arrested.
Something is fishy about that map. On the West side there are 5 lines headed towards Asia, but on the Asian side there are only 2 lines coming in from the East. Do we have 3 cables only going to the mid-pacific? Also there is no explanation for the blue lines and the dotted line, what do these signify?
Computers allow humans to make mistakes at the fastest speeds known, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns
Neal Stephenson did an article for Wired on the laying of global fiber optic cable about a decade ago. It's a long read but a good one (kind of like Snow Crash was). He travels around the world following the laying of FLAG (Fiber Link Around the Globe). He covers everything from laying the cable, to the landing points, to over-land connections, to telco monopolies, to everything else. If you're a geek and into submarine cable laying, then the article below is almost required reading. http://econ161.berkeley.edu/OpEd/virtual/stephenson.html
My favorite quote doesn't fit into 120 characters. Now no one will like me.
Don't miss this:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html
It was posted (here I think) on a previous related story, it's very long, and I would not have expected to find the subject interesting, but the article makes it fascinating and very readable.
if your slashdot id was higher than mine I would have bowed in aquiescence, but sine it is not, FUCK YOU! :-)
Live and learn.
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
Depends where you are. When I resolve www.google.com, www.google.co.uk, and www.google.co.jp I get one of three IPs for them all: Name: www.l.google.com Address: 64.233.167.104 Name: www.l.google.com Address: 64.233.167.147 Name: www.l.google.com Address: 64.233.167.99 These are all in the Chicago area. My ISP is an upstream provider of theirs - I jump right from my ISP's network to Google. I suspect they resolve DNS based on the requestor's IP and give an IP geographically close - or maybe they factor in BGP hops...