Facebook, Google to install undersea cables to connect SouthEast Asia and North America

Facebook announced on Monday that it intended to lay two new undersea cables connecting Singapore, Indonesia, and North America. The project will take place in collaboration with Google and regional telecommunication firms to improve internet access within the regions.

Echo and Bifrost will be the first two cables to cross the Java Sea along a new diverse path, so they will generate additional trans-pacific subsea capability by around 70%,” Kevin Salvadori, Facebook Vice President of Network Investments, told sources.

He further added that, “We’re working with partners and authorities to address everyone’s questions, and we’re excited to see the cable becoming a valuable, profitable transpacific cable in the near future”.

In addition to a previous contract to build public Wi-Fi hot spots, last year Facebook had announced that it will deploy 3,000 km (1,8641 miles) of fibre through twenty cities in Indonesia.

Apart from the Southeast Asian cables, Salvadori said that Facebook was proceeding with its wider subsea plans in Asia and around the world, including the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN).

According to the executive, the cables will be the first to link North America to the most important areas of Indonesia, which will improve access for the country’s central and eastern provinces.

The two cables, which must be authorised by regulators, follow Facebook’s previous investments in improving connectivity in Indonesia, one of its top five global markets.