A consortium of six international companies that includes Google and Bharti have executed agreements to build a high–bandwidth subsea fiber optic cable linking the United States and Japan. The construction of the new Trans–Pacific infrastructure will cost an estimated US$300 million.
The initial capacity is targeted to be available in the first quarter of 2010. It is expected to address broadband demand by providing much needed capacity to sustain the unprecedented growth in data and Internet traffic between Asia and the United States.
I find the news significant for 3 reasons
- It is a proof of the fact that Asia is indeed important for Google. I know Google has been saying that for quite sometime. But saying and investing money are 2 different ways of accepting the importance of Asia and I prefer the latter.
- It marks the move of Bharti Airtel into the international arena in a big way. If I know anything about Bharti, I will not be surprised if they create even more news in future.
- Hopefully speed of net connection will improve significantly, making many video based online businesses viable.