(3 minutes read)
- Much awaited Facebook project – first undersea cable system “ocean liners”, featuring 24 pairs of optical fibre has been launched
- This will bring the transmission capacity up to 200 times greater than the cables built in the 2000s
- Cynthia Perrett, Facebook’s fibre programme manager in a virtual press meet said that economies move in value chain when internet connectivity is improved
The much awaited Facebook project – first undersea cable system “ocean liners”, featuring 24 pairs of optical fibre has been launched. This will bring the transmission capacity up to 200 times greater than the cables built in the 2000s.
Cynthia Perrett, Facebook’s fibre programme manager in a virtual press meet said that economies move in value chain when internet connectivity is improved. For instance, she pointed out that in Nigeria’s improved broadband Internet communication has resulted in a 7.8% increase in employment in areas connected by fibre optic cables. For every million people living in areas connected by fibre cables, an additional 78,000 people were employed, she added. Similarly, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is another internet connectivity led to a 19% increase in GDP per capita ($789 compared to $663 at PPP).
Facebook is building more than 150,000 km of cable with a number of partners around the world. Facebook is also working on new technologies that will allow floating buoys powered by solar energy in the middle of the ocean to help these cables carry much more data volumes.
The world’s longest 2Africa cable system will also help provide internet to about three billion people around the world. 2Africa is undersea cables linking Africa, Asia and Europe, jointly built by Telecom Egypt Facebook and others also plans to start experiments testing floating buoys that will power marine cables in the middle of the ocean.
