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Transpacific Unity Fiber Optic Cable Leaves Japan
JoshuaInNippon writes "The 10,000 km (6,200 mile) long Unity fiber optic cable, funded by Google and five East Asian communication companies, left Japanese shores on November 1st to be laid along the northern Pacific Ocean floor. The Japanese end of the cable is expected to be fused to the American end sometime around November 11th. The cable, which was announced in February of 2008 at a cost of around $300 million USD, has the theoretical capacity of 7.68 Tbps, but will be set at a capacity of about 4.8 Tbps (supposedly equivalent to about 75 million simultaneous phone calls) during its initial use. When Unity begins full operation sometime early next year, it is projected to increase internet traffic capacity between the two regions by over 20%, a wonderful boost to transpacific relations!"
Woohoo! Faster Hentai downloads :-)
Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law
Even fiber optic cable is getting laid...
Sweet, this will give me faster access to Hulu, Slacker, and all of the nice American websites.
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
Wikipedia, pfffft. I learned all I need to know about Trans Oceanic Fiber Optic cables in 56 short pages thanks to Neal Stephenson... http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass.html
Don't forget sharks, that seem to be fooled by the electric field that results from the DC current powering the repeaters, and occasionally attack the cables. I believe newer cables include upgraded armor that is more shark-resistant.