Microsoft and Facebook are teaming up to deploy the highest capacity subsea cable ever, across Atlantic.
Microsoft and Facebook announce plans to build “MAREA,” a state-of-the art subsea cable across the Atlantic.
Above, the route of MAREA will be different than other transatlantic cables. Credit Microsoft
The 6,600 kilometers underwater cable, will be stretched from Virginia to Bilbao, Spain.
It will carry an estimated 160 terabits of data per second and construction will commence in August 2016 with completion expected in October 2017.
Frank Rey, director, global network acquisition, Microsoft Corp, said:
“In order to better serve our customers and provide the type of reliable and low-latency connectivity they deserve, we are continuing to invest in new and innovative ways to continuously upgrade both the Microsoft Cloud and the global Internet infrastructure. This marks an important new step in building the next generation infrastructure of the Internet.”
MAREA will be the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic – featuring eight fiber pairs and an initial estimated design capacity of 160Tbps. The new 6,600 km submarine cable system, to be operated and managed by Telxius, will also be the first to connect the United States to southern Europe: from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Bilbao, Spain and then beyond to network hubs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. This route is south of existing transatlantic cable systems that primarily land in the New York/New Jersey region. Being physically separate from these other cables helps ensure more resilient and reliable connections for our customers in the United States, Europe, and beyond.
source Microsoft
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