Google Is Backing a New $300 Million High-Speed Internet Trans-Pacific Cable

An anonymous reader writes Google has announced it is backing plans to build and operate a new high-speed internet Trans-Pacific cable system called "FASTER." In addition to Google, the $300 million project will be jointly managed by China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, KDDI, and SingTel, with NEC as the system supplier. FASTER will feature the latest high-quality 6-fiber-pair cable and optical transmission technologies. The initial design capacity is expected to be 60Tb/s (100Gb/s x 100 wavelengths x 6 fiber-pairs), connecting the US with two locations in Japan.

Comments

Re:Finally some Asian LPBs

[iggymanz]

they can do worse than making us a nice fat pipe for quality anime and JAV

Slight problem

[Andurian]

60Tb/s is fine for me, but what about the other people who want to use it?

Beta?

[RussR42]

The cable will never leave beta and then be discontinued in a year.

Re:Big Challenge

[scuzzlebutt]

Nope.

Only 6 pairs?

[Anonymous Coward]

You'd think that since the sheathing probably costs more than the fiber, and the labor/paperwork/engineering involved in laying it probably dwarfs the equipment cost, they'd put in a lot more than 6 pair.

Re:Only 6 pairs?

[Shatrat]

The limitation is in the amplifier equipment in the festoons on the ocean floor. In terrestrial cables we don't have that limitation and you'll frequently see 288 count cables on long-haul routes and 48 count cables going through neighborhoods and subdivisions.

Re:Only 6 pairs?

[hackertourist]

For each fiber, you need an amplifier every 50 (?) km. You may run into a weight limit where the amplifier pack becomes too heavy to be suspended by the cable during cable laying.

Re:Only 6 pairs?

[hackertourist]

They use optical amplifiers. The signal stays in optical form, and is guided through a special section of fiber. A laser pumps energy into that fiber section, some of that energy ends up amplifying the signal. So it still needs power to drive the laser.

Re:Only 6 pairs?

[SuricouRaven]

Delivered through a system as practical as it is insane-sounding: There's one power cable, doubling as an armor layer. The station at one end drives it +lotsofvolts relative to ground, the other drives it -lotsofvolts. All those amplifiers are hooked up in series.

So which agencies' backdoors are in there?

[ron_ivi]

Google ... China Telecom Global ... KDDI ... SingTel

Does that suggest at least 4 countries with NSA-like taps into the data.

Re:So which agencies' backdoors are in there?

[TheDarkener]

Does it really matter at this point how information traverses the Internet? It is a PUBLIC network. Do yourself a favor and encrypt all your traffic and you won't have to worry about which route your data takes to get to its destination. Doing it any other way is just not going to cut it these days.

Re:So which agencies' backdoors are in there?

[ArcadeMan]

I practically got a proctological exam just crossing over into Canada this summer.

Free medical checkups are one good reason to live in Canada.

Re:So which agencies' backdoors are in there?

[timeOday]

I will admit what triggered suspicion - I forgot to bring a birth certificate for my 15-year-old son, and my wife wasn't with us. I don't see what a photocopied birth certificate proves (with regard to either kidnapping or smuggling contraband on my motorcycle) - but either way it was made abundantly clear to me that "privacy" is not a relevant concept at an international checkpoint. In fact the Canadian agent even claimed I shouldn't be taking him between US states without documentation, since I had no way to prove I had "permission", which really made my head spin.

Re: Isn't this pointless?

[Anonymous Coward]

Those were 1Gb/s, these are 100Gbs with 100 WDM. Suitable for linking data centers, not just offices

Re:Hmmm

[DoofusOfDeath]

I'd rather Google come in and bust the telecom monopoly in my home town where I have a choice between Verizon FiOS and Comcast Xfinity ... if you want to call that a choice. The lesser of the evils is Verizon FiOS. At least the FiOS is truly fiber optic!

That sounds great, but what happens when Google obtains monopoly status in your area?

Re:Big Challenge

[93 Escort Wagon]

I'm not sure if I'd rather have the NSA spying on my or China trying to steal my intellectual property.

I don't believe this is an either/or situation.

Re: Isn't this pointless?

[wiredlogic]

Transoceanic cables have repeaters positioned along their length. They can't be upgraded to newer tech without help from the US Navy.

Re: Isn't this pointless?

[Shatrat]

No, because those submarine cables also include the amplifiers/regenerators spaced out across the ocean floor which aren't compatible with the slick new coherent optics. Most of the old ones are hardwired to regenerate Sonet framed signals.