Facebook will build two submarine cables connecting the US with Indonesia for the first time as the Silicon Valley group boosts its focus on the world’s fastest-growing population of smartphone users. The cables will increase data capacity by 70 per cent between the west coast of the US and the Asian countries, Facebook said in a statement on Monday. The roughly 400 submarine cables in operation around the world carry voice and internet traffic between countries and continents. FlashpointThe building of submarine cables has become a geopolitical flashpoint for technology companies, especially as tensions rise between the US and China. “Submarine cables go hand-in-hand with the exponential growth of cloud [computing] services,” Achcar said.

Source: The Irish Times March 29, 2021 12:33 UTC