Marea: Microsoft and Facebook to build fast transatlantic cable – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Even now consume large Internet companies a lot of the capacity of the deep-sea data cables connecting Europe and the USA. But their power apparently reaches them no longer. Now Microsoft and Facebook have teamed to a new major project. Together they want to build a new transatlantic cable, which trumps all previously available lines far.

According to a press release the cable is intended to overcome a distance of 6600 kilometers and are routed through an unusual route. Most current transatlantic cable starting in the northern United States and land in Northern Europe.

The called after the Spanish word for tidal Marea cable however is to lead from the US state of Virginia from Bilbao in Spain. The unusual route will help to “ensure customers in the US, Europe and beyond more robust and more reliable connections.”

160 terabits per second

that the two companies to build their own data line across the Atlantic, lies at the rapidly increasing demand for bandwidth. Search engine queries, cloud storage as OneDrive, cloud-based office offers and professional services such as Microsoft’s Azure require cables, large amounts of data can be transferred from one continent to another quickly.

It is this range will now offer Marea. About eight fiber strands the cable is intended to provide a capacity of 160 terabits per second, creating much more than the previous lines. The turn of the year finished AECConnect, only comes to 40 terabits per second.

Three-digit million sums

The cost of the project make partner no details. The construction of 2015 put into operation cable Hibernia Express is estimated to have cost about $ 300 million. Lower prices should the Microsoft-Facebook connection hardly be, especially with 6600 kilometers far longer than further north routed cables. Hibernia Express takes only 4600 km to cross the ocean.

Facebook and Microsoft are not the only companies who want to ensure their own data lines capacity and speed intercontinental network connections. Google also invested in long own cable, is building, for example, a link between the US and Asia.

With Kevlar against sharks

submarine cable be laid for more than a hundred years by the Pacific, Atlantic and other oceans. 314 active compounds counts The Submarine Cable Map of service Telegeography counts more than 300 on. Regular failure occurs because storms, earthquakes or ship anchors and trawling damage cable. Google about why already developed proprietary technology to protect the valuable cable for example, by a coat of Kevlar from damage.

But it is not only capacity issues, urging to build new cable. Brazil about postponed its own cable to Europe to be independent in traffic from the United States -. And to protect against eavesdropping of foreign secret services