SINGAPORE - Google announced on Tuesday that it and five telecommunications companies will construct an undersea cable linking the United States and Japan, providing capacity to sustain a surge in Internet traffic between the continents.
The 10,000-kilometer (6,200 miles) undersea fiber optic cable will cost $300 million, the companies said in a joint statement.
The consortium, named "Unity," partners Google with Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, KDDI Corp., Pacnet and Singapore Telecommunications.
The cable will provide capacity to sustain growth in data and Internet traffic between Asia and the United States, which is much needed, the consortium said.
"The Unity cable system allows the members of the consortium to provide the increased capacity needed as more applications and services migrate online," said Jayne Stowell, a spokesperson for the consortium.
The consortium said it has chosen NEC Corporation and Tyco Telecommunications to construct and install the system, which is expected to be ready for service in the first quarter of 2010.
