Google and Orange team up for 4,100-mile subsea cable
GOOGLE has signed a deal with French telecoms company Orange to build a 4,100-mile undersea cable to speed up data connections between the US and Europe.
The cable, which will travel from the French Atlantic coast to Virginia Beach in the US, is the first to be built from France to the US in 15 years. It will help boost Google’s Cloud projects in Europe.
The plan comes as internet connectivity demands across the ocean are doubling every two years on the back of a surge in data use and the popularity of video streaming. The new cable is just the latest Google is working on to build up IT infrastructure.
The company has spent more than $30bn (£23bn) over the past three years building its Cloud infrastructure.
While most of the subsea cables have come in collaboration with other providers, the new cable, called the Dunant cable, is a private project. The Silicon Valley giant has also invested in its own subsea cable between Chile and the US.
Orange said the new cable, named for the founder of the Red Cross Henri Dunant, would allow it to reach new business customers in the US. Google said it was working with US supplier TE Subcom to build the link. Orange will be responsible for the French landing of the cable, which will be in service by 2020.
It will help deliver a one-gigabyte film in 30 microseconds. About 99pc of the world’s messages are transmitted overseas by cable.
Stéphane Richard, the Orange chief executive, said: “The role of submarine cables is often overlooked, despite their central role at the head of our digital world.”
Last year, the influential Policy Exchange think tank raised cybersecurity concerns about the UK’S cable infrastructure. In 2014, Russia was able to cut all communications to the Crimea region by quickly severing its undersea cable communications network.