Google’s Next Undersea Network Cable Will Connect Portugal And South Africa
Google's third largest undersea network cable will shuttle high-speed data from Portugal to South Africa and countries in between starting in 2021. It's named after author and abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, who was sold to slavery but bought his own liberty. He had been born in Nigeria, which probably is the first country to find an extension in the new subsea cable. Moreover, Google is also a partner in several cable consortiums that run cables that span the world. The firm says it has spent $47 billion over the previous three years to bolster its technology infrastructure.
The cable uses a new data-pumping technique, called fiber-level switching, designed to transfer information more economically, Google stated. Formerly long-lived fiber-optic wires, with six or four pairs of fiber-optic lines, divided data by sending different wavelengths of light -- colors -- to each destination. Each fiber-optic pair can transfer information on 60 different wavelength channels. The Equiano cable, which will be set up by Alcatel Submarine Networks, is somewhat different from others, according to Google. " Equiano will be the first subsea cable to incorporate optical switching at the fiber-pair level, rather than the traditional approach of wavelength-level switching." Google also stresses this new cable can carry about 20 times the power of the previous cable, which was constructed to serve this area. Read the full article
