Google boosts fiber optic online speeds across Asia
Google has begun improving connectivity speeds across Taiwan with the introduction of a new high-speed fiber-optic undersea cable.
On Tuesday, Yan Tang, Network Resource APAC Regional Lead at Google said in a blog post that fresh investment in network cables which now connect Taiwan to the FASTER cable from Japan should give Taiwanese residents better performance when browsing the web.
The FASTER cable, which Google calls the "world's fastest fiber-optic cable to date," began its online duties in June this year. The cable operates by beaming light to transfer data, resulting in speeds of up to 60TB.
As one of the cable's six FASTER Consortium members, Google has access to 10TB of this capability. The other members of the consortium are China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, KDDI and SingTel.
The cable connects the United States and Japan, and now, Taiwan is also on the grid largely thanks to one of Google's established data centers on the island. The tech giant chose Changhua County, Taiwan to host the largest Google data center in Asia, and with the introduction of fiber-optic connectivity, the company says that residents can now enjoy speeds of up to 26 terabits per second when accessing Google tools and services, such as YouTube and Google Apps.
"You may not notice right away, but this new cable should help Google products and services load more quickly across the region," Tang notes. "It should also improve the reliability and consistency of this speedier experience, since the cable was strategically built outside of tsunami zones to help prevent network outages related to natural disasters."
Google says that increased rates of Internet adoption -- and thereby data demands -- across Asia has prompted the company to invest more heavily in the region's Internet infrastructure.
There are now two data centers in the region owned by the tech giant, in Taiwan and Singapore, and the latter facility is currently being upgraded, bringing Google's overall investment in the region to roughly $1 billion.