Google’s next undersea internet cable will link Africa and Europe

Google has announced its third private undersea internet cable will run between Europe and Africa. One end will make landfall in Portgual. While you might expect the cable would connect to Morocco, it'll run all the way down the African coast to Sout...

Google and Facebook team up on a direct connection to Asia

Google and Facebook are looking to speed up their connection to Hong Kong. According to an announcement today, the two internet giants have teamed up with the Pacific Light Data Communications Company and TE SubCom to build the first direct undersea...

Mainland China, Taiwan send first data over direct fiber optic link, take steps towards peace and harmony

Mainland China, Taiwan send first data over direct fiber optic link, take steps towards peace and harmony

Relations between mainland China and Taiwan haven't always been what you'd call warm, even with many companies having a footprint in both regions. Consider the first bursts of network traffic from a newly active connection as olive branches: a pair of undersea fiber optic cables running between southern China's Xiamen and the Taiwan-claimed Kinmen island chain represent the first truly direct data link between the two sides. Built by China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom, the link both has its share of diplomatic symbolism as well as the very practical advantage of a faster, more reliable route -- there's no globetrotting required to get data and voice to their destinations, and there's fewer chances of blackouts if a boat inadvertently slices a cable. We wouldn't go so far as to call it a Happily Ever After for either faction after decades of tension, but it does at least provide a greater semblance of normalcy to their communication.

[Image credit: Aine Hickey, Wikitravel]

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Mainland China, Taiwan send first data over direct fiber optic link, take steps towards peace and harmony originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 09:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook and others invest in 6,214-mile Asia-Pacific undersea internet cable, friend request lag to plummet

Undersea cableIt's almost become a truism that internet connections from the Asia-Pacific region to the rest of the world can be slow and lag-ridden, but that assumption is about to be knocked flat if Facebook and others in a Time Dotcom-led consortium have their way. The alliance is investing a combined $450 million into the Asia Pacific Gateway, a 6,214-mile undersea cable that will run between Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. The fiber optic pipe will not only help reduce the need to route large volumes of traffic through Singapore but, in many cases, send much of that traffic straight to American shores -- a big help when Facebook and much of the web industry still hosts most of its content on the Eastern side of the ocean. Although faster speeds won't be in place until the summer of 2014, by which point the more direct connections might be absolutely necessary, it still gives hope to those of us who want to poke friends and upload photos in record time.

Facebook and others invest in 6,214-mile Asia-Pacific undersea internet cable, friend request lag to plummet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink BBC, The Verge  |  sourceTime Dotcom  | Email this | Comments