Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

California… Google lives here.

Next week, Google is expected to announce the completion of a fast Internet cable under the Pacific Ocean from the U.S. to Japan. The cable has the potential to create a 7.68 Tbps (terabits per second) connection under the Pacific, increasing bandwidth by about 20%.

Google will have its own connection to Asia. Google is entitled to 20% of the overall capacity for its needs.

If you have ever wondered what it will take to “wake up” the telecommunications industry (I have!), you may have your one-word answer: Google.

The testing phase of the $300 million cable project is almost complete. The cable was laid by the Unity Consortium, which consists of Google, Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, KDDI, Pacnet, and SingTel. Google invested in the project back in 2008. Pacnet, a telecom provider in Asia, invested $100 million in the project, with the remaining partners spreading the $200 million investment among themselves.

Google issued a statement today:

“The need for information is a global requirement. As the economies of Asian countries continue to grow, data traffic and the use of the Internet expands. Google is a global company and is committed to providing the best quality of user experience regardless of geography.”

According to CNET, Bill Barney, Pacnet’s CEO said:

“Once you buy fiber, you own it for the rest of your life. It’s like launching a satellite.”

The project does not (necessarily ) mean that Google will use the capacity of the new cable to become an Internet service provider to Asia, as it is exploring with “Google Fiber for Communities” in the U.S. (Gee, I hope that someone in Livermore is pursuing the latter.)

However, the cable will link Google data centers with Japan over one of the fastest pipelines on the planet!

You can “call me a cockeyed optimist” (I’ve been called worse), but I expect WONDERFUL things to emerge from that fact.

-Bill at

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