The first department of Google’s Equiano underwater web cable — which is able to finally run from Cape Town, South Africa to Lisbon, Portugal — has landed in Lomé, Togo, the corporate introduced Friday. The huge fiber optic cable will likely be Google’s first to run from Africa to Europe, and is predicted to convey web connectivity to thousands and thousands of individuals throughout each continents. This will likely be particularly impactful in Togo, the place in line with DataReportal an estimated 74 p.c of individuals don’t have entry to the web. The cable is predicted to ship 20 instances extra web capability to the area.
Google started investing closely in subsea cable web almost a decade in the past, with its first co-owned cable undertaking Unity (which stretches from Chikura, Japan to Redondo Beach, California) going into service in 2010. The firm has invested in—both solely or as part of a consortium — a complete of 19 undersea cables. Its most not too long ago accomplished undertaking, Dunant, went into service in January 2021 and runs from Virginia Beach to the French Coast.
Alphabet removed from the one tech large to take a position closely in undersea cables, which have turn out to be extra ubiquitous with the expansion of the cellular web. Google together with Meta, Microsoft and Amazon now dominate the world’s crucial cable infrastructure, because the Wall Street Journal notes. Last month, Meta introduced plans to construct at the very least two transatlantic undersea cables by 2027.
Undersea cables have one notable draw back: The cables can tear and break, both because of pure disasters or human exercise like fishing. Cable breaks are significantly widespread alongside the coasts of Africa, and may go away whole areas with out connectivity for days. Last yr a large mudslide in South Africa precipitated two undersea cables to interrupt, which led to service disruptions and slowdowns throughout your complete continent. But within the occasion of a break, a close-by undersea cable can be utilized as a backup.
Once in service, Equiano will present extra insurance coverage to a area that badly wants it. After Togo, Equiano’s subsequent cease will likely be in Nigeria and Namibia, earlier than heading to its remaining touchdown in Cape Town, South Africa. It is predicted to be totally in service later this yr.
