How Facebook and Microsoft are planning to make the Internet 16M times faster
In an incredible feat, Microsoft, Facebook, and telecom infrastructure company Telxius have laid a 6,598-km cable, capable of transmitting 160 terabits of data per second, across the Atlantic Ocean.
The companies announced the completion of the highest-capacity subsea cable 'Marea' (tide), which delivers 16 million times faster internet than the average home web connection. Microsoft claims that the superfast internet speed delivered by Marea can stream 71 million HD videos simultaneously. Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, in a blog post said,
Marea comes at a critical time. Submarine cables in the Atlantic already carry 55 percent more data than trans-Pacific routes and 40 percent more data than between the US and Latin America. There is no question that the demand for data flows across the Atlantic will continue to increase.
For most of the route, the cable — made up of eight pairs of fibre optic cables enclosed by copper — lies on the ocean floor. Some parts are buried to protect from shipping traffic, usually in areas closer to the shore, the company said. The cable, which lies 17,000 feet below the ocean surface and extends between Virginia Beach in the US and the city of Bilbao in Spain, would be operational by early 2018.
Microsoft said the project was completed nearly three times faster than usual, in under two years. Google has also invested in two cables that run from the US to Japan, covering South America and several Asian countries. Facebook and Microsoft's investment in Marea gives them more control over the vast amounts of data they need to move quickly around the world, the report said.
With inputs from IANS.
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