Microsoft and Facebook to build high-capacity subsea cable across Atlantic Ocean

This Summer, Facebook and Microsoft will begin the construction of a subsea cable across the Atlantic. The MAREA cable will assist Internet users achieve high-speed connections for cloud and online services for Facebook and Microsoft customers.

“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,” said Frank Rey, director, global network acquisition, Microsoft Corp. “This marks an important new step in building the next generation infrastructure of the Internet.”

According to a Microsoft blog,”MAREA will be the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic.” The cable will feature eight fiber pairs and an initial estimated design capacity of 160 Tbps. The 4,100-mile long cable will also be the first-ever to connect the U.S. to southern Europe — and then beyond— to network hubs in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Microsoft and Facebook designed the cable to work with a variety of networking equipment which could potentially impact customers by being less expensive and requiring easier equipment upgrades.

Story via Microsoft Blog.