Microsoft, Facebook to Jointly Build New Subsea Cable

Microsoft and Facebook announced on Thursday an agreement to build new subsea cable across the Atlantic. 

According to Facebook, the “MAREA” cable construction will start in August 2016 with completion expected in October 2017.

“Microsoft and Facebook are collaborating on this system to accelerate the development of the next-generation of Internet infrastructure and support the explosion of data consumption and rapid growth of their respective cloud and online services,” Facebook explained.

MAREA will consist of eight fiber pairs and an initial estimated design capacity of 160Tbps. The new 6,600 km submarine cable system will be operated and managed by Telxius, Telefónica’s new telecommunications infrastructure company.

It will connect the United States to southern Europe, from the data hub of Northern Virginia to Bilbao, Spain and then to network hubs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, the company explained.