Google Helps Fund Trans-Pacific Cable System

Google has become one of six global companies working to build and operate a new Trans-Pacific cable network that connects Japan to North America. The system will be called "FASTER" to represent the network's purpose, which is to meet the demands of the growing Internet traffic across the globe.

According to the announcement, the new cabling will be connected at Chikura and Shima in Japan and extended to major North American hubs on the West Coast that span Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. The initial capacity will be 60 terabits per second (aka 100 Gb/s x 100 wavelengths x 6 fiber-pairs), the press release said.

In addition to Google, the five other companies that are funding the project include China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, KDDI and SingTel.

"The FASTER cable system has the largest design capacity ever built on the Trans-Pacific route, which is one of the longest routes in the world," Woohyong Choi, the chairman of the FASTER executive committee, said. "The agreement announced today will benefit all users of the global Internet."

Naoki Yoshida, general manager at NEC's Submarine Network Division, said that NEC Corporation will be the system supplier for the FASTER cable network. He said this new system will "provide additional connectivity and capacity between regions of the world that increasingly require more bandwidth."

The FASTER system is expected to be ready for service in 2Q 2016. The total cost of the project will be approximately $300 million.

Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.