In the field of submarine optical cables that support international communications, 50% of the new laying in the three years to 2025 will be financed by Google and Meta of the United States. Underwater optical cables are the core infrastructure of the Internet, carrying 99% of global data communications. Large IT companies have a large global share in cloud services and other fields, and their presence in the public infrastructure field will increase. The Nikkei counted the sponsors of optical cables of more than 1,000 kilometers used mainly for international communications according to data from the American research firm TeleGeography.
From 2023 to 2025, the world will lay 314,000 kilometers ofoptical cables . 45% of them are run by companies financed by Google and Meta. From 2014 to 2016, this proportion was 20%. Meta invested about 110,000 kilometers (including the joint investment of the two companies), and Google contributed about 60,000 kilometers. For long-distance optical cables over 5,000 kilometers, Google has 14 (including 5 separately funded), the largest number.
Including those already carried out, Google and Meta will control 23% of the cables ofoptical fiber(1.25 million kilometers) laid between 2001 and 2025. Judging by the laying distance in the 15 years to 2025, Meta and Google occupy first and second place respectively, surpassing global communication giants such as Vodafone of the Kingdom Kingdom and France's Orange which have supported the construction of submarine optical cables in the past.
Post time: Dec-15-2022
