Written by Grace Vanaik
(Reuters) – Google will invest $1 billion to improve digital connectivity between Japan and the United States through two new undersea cables, the Alphabet Inc.’s company said on Wednesday, in a move aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries. The announcement was made during the Prime Minister’s visit.
Google said in a blog post that the two undersea cables, Proa and Taihei, will improve connectivity between the United States, Japan, and several Pacific Island countries and regions.
“Building on the U.S.-Australia joint funding commitment for submarine cables last October, the U.S. and Japan will work with like-minded partners to build a reliable and more resilient network to deliver submarine cables to the Pacific region. The United States and Japan plan to contribute funds to achieve this goal,” the Japan-U.S. joint statement said on Wednesday.
The Pacific region is a region of great interest for China and the United States, and they are competing for influence in the region through infrastructure development and military alliances.
President Joe Biden has promoted America’s dominance in communications services, viewing it as a critical national security issue because the industry controls the flow of information around the world.
The United States last year pledged to jointly fund two undersea cables to be built by Google, connecting the U.S. territory of Guam with hubs in Fiji and French Polynesia, and extending further across remote islands in the Pacific Ocean. I promised.
Google announced that the Proa submarine cable will connect the United States, Japan, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Guam, and the Taihei submarine cable will connect the United States, Japan, and Hawaii.
Additionally, Google announced that it will fund the construction of an interlink cable connecting Hawaii, the CNMI, and Guam.
The tech giant also said it will work with Japan-based companies such as KDDI, Arteria Networks, Philippines-based Citadel Pacific and CNMI to improve digital connectivity in the region.
Undersea cables are the backbone of the Internet and carry 99% of the world’s data traffic.
(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bangalore; Editing by Alan Varona)
