The most advanced subsea cable across the Atlantic
Microsoft has just announced the completion of the Marea subsea cable, which is unmatched in its capabilities.
- Microsoft Philanthropies donates $1 billion in cloud computing resources
- In Vietnam, Facebook is a marketplace for cheap fakes and endangered wildlife parts
Spanish for tide, Marea is a joint project between Microsoft, Facebook and global telecommunication infrastructure company Telxius, that helps to upgrade the global internet infrastructure to better meet the rapidly growing demand for internet and cloud services in our increasingly connected world.
 |
| Crews began installing the cable last year. (Photo by RUN Studios) |
The Marea cable’s new “open” design allows it to evolve with technology, ensuring the highest performance for users now and well into the future, even as the global population of internet users grows. This ability to interoperate with many different kinds of networking equipment brings significant benefits including lower costs and easier equipment upgrades, leading to faster growth in bandwidth rates.
Completed in less than two years — nearly three times faster than is typical — Marea is a powerful example of the important role the private sector has to play in connecting the world. It also set a new standard for subsea cables because it is designed to meet today’s demand and evolve with the progress of tomorrow, allowing companies offering digital services to be better equipped to handle cross-border internet traffic, which expected to increase eighfold by 2025.
At more than 4,000 miles (6,600 kilometers) long and almost 10.25 million pounds (4.65 million kilograms) — or about the weight of 34 blue whales — the Marea cable is a feat of engineering, collaboration and innovation. The cable can transmit up to 160 terabits of data per second. That’s more than 16 million times faster than the average home internet connection, making it capable of streaming 71 million high-definition videos simultaneously.
