Enormous Undersea Cable Completed

Microsoft, Facebook, Complete Enormous Undersea Cable

Marea reaches from Spain to Virginia.

Microsoft
 
By David Grossman

Microsoft, Facebook and global telecommunication infrastructure company Telxius have completed the Marea subsea cable, the world's most technologically advanced undersea cable. The Marea crosses the Atlantic Ocean over 17,000 feet below the ocean's surface, connecting Virginia Beach with Bilbao, Spain.

Over 4,000 miles (6,600 kilometers) long and weighing nearly 10.25 million pounds (4.65 million kilograms), the Marea can transmit up to 160 terabits of data per second, which Microsoft notes is "more than 16 million times faster than the average home internet connection, making it capable of streaming 71 million high-definition videos simultaneously." With digital services expected to see an eightfold increase in usage by 2025, it's safe to say that capacity will probably be useful.

The Marea, which is Spanish for 'tide,' is designed to be interoperable with a variety of networking equipment. This openness will allow for the cable to evolve with the latest technologies in the years to come. In the present, Microsoft lists a wide array of cloud-based services that it aims to enhance with the Marea ranging from Bing and Office 365 to Skype and Xbox Live. For Facebook, Marea will increase its capabilities as the site looks to expand into VR.

Rafael Arranz, Telxius COO, has said in a previous statement that "all of these applications, especially everything that is driven by video, consume a huge amount of bandwidth. So everybody needs to be connected with a high-volume, high-bandwidth infrastructure."

The impetus for the cable emerged out of Hurricane Sandy, which in 2012 knocked out servers and disconnected wireless, internet and home phone service for days. "It was a major disruption," says Frank Rey, director of global network strategy for Microsoft's Cloud Infrastructure and Operations division, in a press statement. "The entire network between North America and Europe was isolated for a number of hours. For us, the storm brought to light a potential challenge in the consolidation of transatlantic cables that all landed in New York and New Jersey."

After running into Facebook executives at meetings, the companies eventually agreed to join forces on the historic cable. Work started last year in August 2016.

"Marea comes at a critical time," says Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, in a statement. "Submarine cables in the Atlantic already carry 55 percent more data than trans-Pacific routes and 40 percent more data than between the U.S. and Latin America. There is no question that the demand for data flows across the Atlantic will continue to increase and Marea will provide a critical connection for the United States, Spain, and beyond."

Source: Microsoft via TheNextWeb