Google and Facebook are seeking to expand communications in the Asia-Pacific region by laying a new undersea internet cable linking Singapore, Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Indonesia.
The two companies said in two separate statements that the cable project, which bears the name "Apricot", will extend about 12,000 km and will be operational in 2024 in the event of obtaining regulatory approvals.
Facebook's director of engineering, Niko Rohri, said the project, announced by the two US companies and regional and global partners, will provide much-needed internet capacity, abundance, and reliability to expand communications in the Asia-Pacific region. Apricot cable forms part of our ongoing efforts to expand our global network infrastructure and provide better service to the more than 3.5 billion people around the world who use our services every month.
Earlier this year, the two companies announced another cable project dubbed "Echo" linking the United States, Singapore, Guam, and Indonesia.
Bikash Kohli, vice president of Google Cloud Services. Google Cloud and Digital Services said, the Echo and Apricot cables form two integrated underwater systems that offer benefits with multiple paths within and outside Asia, including unique routes through South Asia, ensuring a greater degree of flexibility.
Cooley said that the two projects together will provide businesses and startups in Asia with faster speed, stronger bandwidth, and increased flexibility in their communications between Southeast Asia, North Asia, and the United States.
Google and Facebook this year halted efforts to build an undersea cable that was to connect California and Hong Kong, due to tensions between the United States and China.