Last May, Facebook announced plans to build a 37,000-kilometer (22,991-mile) long undersea cable around Africa to provide it with better internet access and now Facebook and Google have other big plans for the future. The two companies are working on two undersea cables that will connect the U.S. West Coast to Singapore and Indonesia which are South East Asia’s biggest economy providers and now a home to the largest population of smart phone users.
73 percent out of the 250 million Indonesian Population is online but the country does not have the accessibility to a proper internet connection, with majority of the percentage using cellular data and only 10 percent using broadband connection, a large part of the country still remains without internet access. Therefore, Facebook decided to put an end to this and through the efforts of Facebook and Google the country will soon be receiving an active internet connection.
Facebook said that is working with Google and other regional telecommunication companies to provide two new undersea cables to connect Singapore, Indonesia, and North America in order to boost the internet capacity within these regions.
The cables are called “Echo” and “Bifrost” and will be the first two cables which will increase the data capacity between the regions by 70% and improve internet reliability and availability. While Google is investing in both the cables Google is only investing in Echo.
The cost for the cables have not been disclosed by the company but we know that the two cables will be needing regulatory approvals considering the previous investments by Facebook to build up connectivity in Indonesia, one of its top five markets globally.
It has been told that Echo is being built in partnership with Alphabet's Google and Indonesian telecommunications' company XL Axiata and should be completed by 2023 while Bifrost, which is being done in partnership with Telin, a subsidiary of Indonesia's Telkomsel, and Singaporean conglomerate Keppel is due to be completed by the late end of 2024.
It is great that both Facebook and Google are looking in depth at the future and trying to provide areas which do not have proper means of internet with a better internet sustainability so that they can also move forward in the world at the same pace as other first world countries. Facebook and Google both have similar projects like this one currently going on in different areas which are yet to be completed.
73 percent out of the 250 million Indonesian Population is online but the country does not have the accessibility to a proper internet connection, with majority of the percentage using cellular data and only 10 percent using broadband connection, a large part of the country still remains without internet access. Therefore, Facebook decided to put an end to this and through the efforts of Facebook and Google the country will soon be receiving an active internet connection.
Facebook said that is working with Google and other regional telecommunication companies to provide two new undersea cables to connect Singapore, Indonesia, and North America in order to boost the internet capacity within these regions.
The cables are called “Echo” and “Bifrost” and will be the first two cables which will increase the data capacity between the regions by 70% and improve internet reliability and availability. While Google is investing in both the cables Google is only investing in Echo.
The cost for the cables have not been disclosed by the company but we know that the two cables will be needing regulatory approvals considering the previous investments by Facebook to build up connectivity in Indonesia, one of its top five markets globally.
It has been told that Echo is being built in partnership with Alphabet's Google and Indonesian telecommunications' company XL Axiata and should be completed by 2023 while Bifrost, which is being done in partnership with Telin, a subsidiary of Indonesia's Telkomsel, and Singaporean conglomerate Keppel is due to be completed by the late end of 2024.
It is great that both Facebook and Google are looking in depth at the future and trying to provide areas which do not have proper means of internet with a better internet sustainability so that they can also move forward in the world at the same pace as other first world countries. Facebook and Google both have similar projects like this one currently going on in different areas which are yet to be completed.
