Control of submarine cables was once in the hands of a consortium composed mainly of telecommunications companies, but in recent years power has been transferred to the hands of technology giants.
Editor’s note: This article is from “Tencent Technology”, review: Golden Deer, Reprinted with permission.
Silicon Valley is not satisfied with simply controlling the software and social networks we use to keep in touch. Internet giants are investing billions of dollars to dominate other things, the primitive wires that make up the basic physical conduits of the global Internet And cables. This is related to the future of the network itself, and it is also an opportunity to eliminate telecom giants, which are traditionally the “middleman” between Silicon Valley and the end users of its products.
Data from industry analysis company TeleGeography shows that as of early 2020, there are approximately 406 submarine cables in the world
Tencent Technology News on August 18, the humble British Cornish coastal town of Bude does not seem to be the obvious destination for Silicon Valley Internet giants to compete for world supremacy, but this resort is about to be in the world. A crucial new area of Internet infrastructure plays a key role.
Last month, Google announced plans to build a new submarine cable, which will extend from New York to the United Kingdom, spanning a distance of nearly 5,000 kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean, and a route to the Spanish port city of Bilbao. In this way, these areas can enjoy the benefits of high-speed broadband network access.
The cable is named Grace Hopper, named after the American programmer who helped build the Harvard Mark I computer during World War II. As people increasingly rely on home security networks, this cable is expected to increase the flexibility of communication infrastructure.
Jayne Stowell, head of Google’s submarine cable department, said: “There is a common misunderstanding that radio waves and satellites carry everything connected to the Internet. However, in fact, they are only the’last connection mile’