Facebook announced on Monday that it plans to construct two new undersea cables connecting Singapore, Indonesia, and North America in a project which is with Google and regional telecommunication companies in order to increase internet connection capacity between the South East Asian countries and North America.
Facebook Cable Will Provide
Facebook previously withdrew three projects to connecting from the US to Hong Kong with a plan for similar undersea internet cables, The Hong Kong government had concerns and labeled it as spying and the project never got to see the light of the day.
What is the project all about?
The Eco and Bifrost trans-Pacific cables will increase data capacity between these regions by 70% and improve internet connectivity and reliability Facebook said on Monday. The first two cables will go through a new route crossing the Java Sea and it will increase overall subsea capacity. Facebook is investing in both the internet cables, Google is investing only in Echo. The cost of the projects is yet to be approved has not been disclosed yet.
Indonesian Firms Telin and XL Axiata and Singapore-based Keppel are the firms that are partners for this project. Echo is aimed to be get completed by late 2023, and Bifrost should be completed by late 2024.
Facebook announced that it plans to build 37,000 kilometers(22,991-mile-long undersea cable around Africa providing better internet access. Google is also currently working on an underwater cable called Equiano, which plans to connect Africa with Europe. The web search also has another unit which is called Loon, that makes high-altitude balloons that can deliver 4G internet in rural communities. the company announced an expansion of this plan to Mozambique.
Facebook originally had plans to bring internet to remote areas with the help of solar-powered drones. It was called Aquila, the company closed the project in 2018 but has been working with Airbus in order to test similar drones once again in Australia.
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