tech companies

New Facebook, Google undersea cables to link Indonesia, Singapore to US – report

Gelo Gonzales

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

New Facebook, Google undersea cables to link Indonesia, Singapore to US – report

FACEBOOK. A 3D plastic representation of the Facebook logo is seen in this illustration in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 13, 2015

Dado Ruvic/Reuters

The new undersea cables Echo and Bifrost are expected to be completed by 2023, and 2024, respectively

Facebook announced plans for two new undersea cables connecting Singapore and Indonesia to North America, Reuters reported on Monday, March 29.

Facebook is partnering with Google and regional telecommunications companies for the project that seeks to enhance the bandwidth capacity between the regions. 

The new cables are expected to boost “subsea capacity in the transpacific by about 70%,” Kevin Salvadori, Facebook’s VP of network investments told Reuters. 

The first two cables to go through the new route which crosses the Java Sea are named Echo and Bifrost, and will be the first cables to connect North America directly to some of the main parts of Indonesia. 

Echo, which is being built with Indonesian telco XL Axiata, is expected to be completed by 2023. Bifrost is expected to be completed by 2024 with partners Telin, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s Telkom Indonesia; and Singapore’s Keppel Corporation. 

Facebook also said it is continuing with its plans for the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN), a 12,800-kilometer long network that will directly connect the US via Los Angeles to Taiwan and the Philippines. Google is also a PLCN partner. 

Plans for a Hong Kong connection were dropped in 2020 after the US Federal Communications Commission raised national security concerns. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Clothing, Apparel, Person

author

Gelo Gonzales

Gelo Gonzales is Rappler’s technology editor. He covers consumer electronics, social media, emerging tech, and video games.