Google's next undersea cable will connect US to UK and Spain
The project will be Google's fourth undersea cable.
Google's fourth undersea cable is named Grace Hopper.
Google said on Tuesday that it plans to build an underwater cable across the Atlantic ocean linking the US, UK and Spain. The cable, named after computer scientist Grace Hopper, will be Google's fourth undersea cable.
"98% of international internet traffic is ferried around the world by subsea cables", said Bikash Koley, Google's global network vice president, in a release. "A vast underwater network of cables crisscrossing the ocean makes it possible to share, search, send, and receive information around the world at the speed of light."
The search giant owns three other undersea cables: Curie, connecting the US and South America; Dunant, connecting the US and France; and Equiano, connecting Europe and Africa. Google also jointly operates a number of other underwater cables including the Pacific Light Cable Network with Facebook. In 2019, the US reportedly sought to block the Pacific Light Cable Network out of national security concerns.
Google said the Grace Hopper cable is scheduled to go online in 2022 and will be built by SubCom, the same company contracted to build the Dunant and Curie cables. Grace Hopper will help support Google's plans for a new cloud region in Madrid.