Verizon Enters Partnership To Build Optical Cable To Link U.S. And China

December 19, 2006 – 12:35 pm

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It looks like communications between the United States and Asia are growing, and Verizon Wireless has entered a partnership to build the world’s first optical cable connecting mainland China and the United States.

The cable, almost half the distance around the world, will have about 60 times the capacity of existing lines between the United States and China, and be capable of supporting the equivalent of 62 million phone calls simultaneously, Verizon said on Monday. Most existing cables between the two countries go through Japan, slowing service.

So people can expect, most likely, cheaper and faster communications between the two huge nations. This should help improve trade relations and increase confidence in US investment in China. The project will not be cheap, weighing at a cost of $500 milllion dollars, and will be called the Transpacific Express (TPE).

A number of Chinese firms will handle large areas of the cable. Verizon Wireless is no strange to optic cable: they said they are involved in more than 65 undersea cable networks worldwide, with 18 alone in the Asia-Pacific region.

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