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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.

9 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Slight problem by Andurian · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  2. Beta? by RussR42 · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  3. Re:Hmmm by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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?

  4. Re:Big Challenge by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

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    #DeleteChrome
  5. Re:Only 6 pairs? by Shatrat · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

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  6. Re: Isn't this pointless? by Shatrat · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

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  7. Re:So which agencies' backdoors are in there? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Funny

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

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

  8. Re:So which agencies' backdoors are in there? by timeOday · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  9. Re:Only 6 pairs? by SuricouRaven · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.