By Malou Talosig-Bartolome, BusinessMirror
March 13, 2024
GOOGLE is on track to complete its project to connect the Philippines, Taiwan and the United States through the latest state-of-the-art multicore fiber (MCF) technology which will offer faster and cheaper internet connectivity.
The world’s number one search engine has partnered with Japan’s NEC, to set up the system to put subsea cables using MCF technology. The system also involves regional carriers Innove (a subsidiary of Globe Group), Chungwa Telecom, and AT&T that would connect Taiwan, the Philippines, Guam and California.
“Google is on target to complete the TPU [Taiwan-Philippines-United States] subsea cable system by the end of 2025,” the US Department of Commerce said.
According to Google, the demand for bandwidth has grown exponentially. However, the undersea fiber optic cables which carry this bandwidth across continents cannot accommodate the demand.
Instead of adding more fibers in each cable, Google and NEC have evolved the single-core optical fibers into multicore fibers that can essentially double the number of cores, carrying more light and information at a reduced cost per bit.
Google said this is the first time that the MCF technology will be adopted.
Sapna Chad, the vice president of Google Asia Pacific under Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier, was one of the American business executives who joined US President Joe Biden’s special trade and investment mission to the Philippines this week.
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who led the 22-member Presidential Trade and Investment Mission, reported that Google is also rolling out the Google Career Certificates in 50 virtual campuses of the Department of Trade and Industry.
The Google Career certificates will cover over 1,300 DTI Negosyo Centers in 16 regions nationwide.
Meta submarine cable investments to PHL
Aside from Google, Meta has also invested in the international submarine cable system that will connect the United States with locations in the Luzon.
