Google Fibre Optic Cables and Shark Bites

on
Undersea fibre optic cables
There are many thousands of miles of fibre optic cables under the oceans and smaller sea. There are cables under the Atlantic connecting Europe to America, an equal number making the longer connection between America and Asia, and many cables around the coasts and across smaller stretches of water, especially around the Asia-Pacific basin.
fiber-optic-broadband
Google’s fibre optic cables
Google has a huge interest in ensuring good internet connectivity, not just because of their web products such as search and storage, but recently they are also starting to provide fibre internet and television to consumers in the United States. As far back as 2008 Google invested in a 6,000 mile trans-Pacific cable, and a new 28 Terabyte per second fibre cable went live in 2013 in Southeast Asia, backed by Google and others. This is in addition to other Google-operated cables around the world. There are plans for many more as the internet speed races hots up.
Damage to undersea cables
Undersea cables are vulnerable to damage by a number of factors. Most damage, around 70 percent, is caused by ship anchors and fishing trawlers. Up to 15 percent of damage is caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes and tidal currents. In August 2014, Dan Belcher, a product manager for Google Cloud, caused a bit of a stir by announcing in the keynote speech of the Google Cloud Roadshow that they were coating their cables with Kevlar to prevent shark attacks. Sharks have an electrical sensor in their mouths that triggers a feeding reflex. It could be that sharks mistake the cables for food, or it could be that they are just curious. It’s not really clear why sharks attack cables, but they occasionally do so, and it certainly makes for a more interesting story than a ship’s anchor, and it received the required publicity for Google’s new 60 terabit per second cable between the USA and Japan.
Faster internet

The speed and volumes of internet traffic are increasing yearly and people quickly adjust to the faster speeds and higher quality content. But you can’t benefit from the better and faster internet if you have a slow connection to your door, which is why fibre optic broadband is starting to become more popular and widespread. There are several sites that let you compare coverage, speed and price of the offerings from various broadband providers. If you’re luck enough to live in an area where it’s available then you too could be spoilt with the best the web has to offer for a reasonable price. And you can be fairly sure your internet won’t be terminated by a shark bite.

Comments

Post a Comment