Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) announced that it was among the six global companies investing in an undersea cable system called FASTER to boost the internet speed in Asia. The Faster System requires an investment of $300 million.
FASTER has 60 Tbps design capacity
In a blog post, Urs Hölzle, the senior vice president of technical infrastructure at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) emphasized that the search engine giant wants its products to be fast and reliable, which required a great network infrastructure.
According to him, “Sometimes the fastest path requires going through the ocean,” the reason behind its decision to invest in FASTER, which has a design capacity of 60 Tbps, ten million times faster than the cable modem.
The project would connect major cities in the West Coast including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland to the two coastal cities in Japan—Chikura and Shima.
In 2008, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) invested in UNITY and in SJC (South-East Asia Japan Cable) in 2011. Hölzle said the search engine giant’s previous investments in UNITY and SJC together with FASTER will make the internet faster and more reliable for its users in Asia.
Other partners in FASTER System
The other global companies that invested in the FASTER system include China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, KDDI, and SingTel.
NEC Corporation will serve as a system supplier, and the construction of the FASTER system will start immediately. The investors aim to make the FASTER system operational in the second quarter of 2016.
In a statement, Mr. Woohyong Choi, the chairman of the FASTER executive committee, said, “FASTER is one of a few hundred submarine telecommunications cables connecting various parts of the world. These cables collectively form an important infrastructure that helps run global Internet and communications.”
Mr. Choi added, “The consortium partners are glad to work together to add a new cable to our global infrastructure. The FASTER cable system has the largest design capacity ever built on the Trans-Pacific route, which is one of the longest routes in the world. The agreement announced today will benefit all users of the global Internet.
Google invested in other internet projects
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also invested in “moonshot projects” to provide faster internet speed. Its Google Fiber is already available in certain markets in the United including Austin Texas and Provo Utah.
The search engine giant is also working on Project Loon, a balloon-powered internet access. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOG) aims to provide internet access to far-flung areas this project. In June, the search engine giant successfully tested Project Loon in the remote areas of Brazil.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also invested more than $1 billion on internet satellites.
