Apricot, a new undersea cable introduced by tech titans Facebook and Google, will improve connection in the Asia Pacific area.
The 12,000-kilometer submarine cable will link Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore, however Malaysia is not included.

This is yet another squandered chance for Malaysia, which is aiming to have the most underwater cable landings in Southeast Asia by 2025 as part of its MyDigital initiative.

 

Apricot will have a “state-of-the-art submersible reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer employing wavelength selective switch for a gridless and adjustable bandwidth configuration, based on space division multiplexing design,” according to a statement from Facebook.

The cable system, which is expected to go live in 2024, will have an initial design capacity of more than 190 Tbps, allowing it to handle expanding data demands in the region while still supporting existing cable systems such as Echo and Bifrost.

The additional connection will also assist meet the region's expanding demand for 4G, 5G, and broadband services, according to the company.

 

Google also stated that the network of cables will provide several paths into and out of Asia, ensuring that Google Cloud and digital services will have a substantially higher level of resilience.

As a result, Southeast Asian enterprises and startups should expect lower latency, more bandwidth, and increased resilience in connectivity between Southeast Asia, North Asia, and the United States.

Scary ! Suckerburg Central ?