Facebook and Google to launch BiFrost and Echo subsea cables in Asia
Facebook announced plans for the construction of two new subsea cables connecting Singapore and Indonesia to North America. The first cable called Echo, will be constructed in partnership with Google and Indonesian telco XL Axiata with a completion date of 2023 and will run from Eureka, California to Singapore, with a stop-over in Guam, with plans to also land in Indonesia. The second, BiFrost is being built in collaboration with Telin, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s Telkom and Singaporean conglomerate Keppel, with a tentative go live in 2024. BiFrost will span over 15,000km in length connecting Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Guam to the west coast of the US. The announcement follows a 2020 commitment to rollout 3,000km of metro fibre in 20 cities in Bali, Java, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi. It also comes as the tech company plans to expand its public wifi hot spot development project.
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