Google + SingTel = Unity Submarine Fiber
Proving that telecommunications security is a two-way street, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) said on Tuesday that it has entered an agreement with five international telecommunications carriers to build a ultra high-speed cable system worth $300 million (see DW: Google: Now it’s Transpacific Fiber).
The submarine system, named Unity, will link the United States to Japan across 10,000 km (6,200 miles).
Other carriers involved in the project include Google as well as Bharti Airtel, Globe Transit, KDDI and Pacnet. The Unity cable will run along the ocean floor, from Los Angeles to Chikura, Japan, where it will connect into other networks.
Each pair of fiber cables are capable of carrying up to 960 gigabytes per second, about the equivalent of bandwidth needed for 15 million simultaneous voice calls. The line is expected to initially increase trans-Pacific “lit” cable capacity by about 20 percent, and could potentially add up to 7.68 terabytes per second of bandwidth across the Pacific. The cable system is expected to be ready for service in the first quarter of 2010.
Other recent submarine cable systems announcements include:
- Verizon Business has gained final FCC approval to activate and operate a trans-Pacific cable system that directly links the United States with mainland China. The cable will stretch 11,000 miles from Nedonna Beach, Oregon, to Qingdao and Chongming in China, and will have landings in Tanshui, Taiwan, and Keoje, South Korea.
- Alaska Communications Systems will invest $95 million in a fiber optic cable from Alaska to Oregon, according to company president Liane Pelletier. The system, which lands in the seaside town of Florence, will have an ultimate capacity to transmit 64, 10 Gigabit wavelengths on each of the 4 fiber pairs for a total potential bandwidth of nearly 2.6 Terabits.
Fiber-optic cable capacity across the Pacific is expected to increase 96 percent from 2007 through the end of this year, said Alan Mauldin, research director with Washington-based research firm TeleGeography.
By the end of 2007, 25 oceanic fiber contracts totaling 112,000 route-kilometers were awarded.
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