In a partnership announced by Google, Facebook, and Pacific Light Data Communication Co. Ltd. (PLDC) the companies will be constructing the first trans-Pacific undersea cable connecting Hong Kong to Los Angeles. The nearly eight thousand mile cable will be available for commercial use in the summer of 2018.
Chairman of the PLDC, Wei Junkang, stated “PLCN will be among the lowest-latency fiber optic routes between Hong Kong and the U.S. and the first to connect directly using ultra-high-capacity transmission,”. Once the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) is completed it will be the fastest trans-Pacific route on record with a capacity of 120 Terabits per second. This will be faster than the previously held record holder, FASTER (also a project backed by Google).
Brian Quigley, Director of Google Networking Infrastructure, said that a 120 Tbps link would allow “Hong Kong to have 80 million concurrent HD video conference calls with Los Angeles” and “PLCN will bring lower latency, more security and greater bandwidth to Google users in the APAC region.”
This link will allow Google to offer a faster service for anyone to collaborate with Google Cloud and G Suite customers in Asia.
