Google, Facebook plan Apricot submarine cable between Singapore and Japan
In complementary blog posts, Google and Facebook have announced they will collaborate on the construction of the Apricot submarine cable system. The submarine network will link Singapore and Japan, as well as Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia. Apricot is expected to be ready for service in 2024.
In the Google blog, Bikash Koley, vice president and head of Google Global Networking and head of technology and strategy, Google Cloud for Telecommunications, described Apricot as complementary to the recently announced Echo submarine cable (on which Facebook is also a partner; see "Facebook plans Echo, Bifrost transpacific submarine cables") that will run between the U.S., Singapore, Guam, and Indonesia. The two submarine networks “will offer benefits with multiple paths in and out of Asia, including unique routes through southern Asia, ensuring a significantly higher degree of resilience for Google Cloud and digital services. Together they’ll provide businesses and startups in Asia with lower latency, more bandwidth, and increased resilience in their connectivity between Southeast Asia, North Asia, and the United States,” he wrote.
For Facebook, Manager, Network Investments Nico Roehrich noted that the 12,000-km undersea cable still requires regulatory approval. Apricot will have an initial design capacity of more than 190 Tbps, Roehrich added.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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