Facebook says it has planned two new undersea cables in a project with Google and local telcos to connect Singapore, Indonesia, and North America
ReutersFanny Potkin
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook and Google had already partnered with Pacific Light Cable Network on an LA-to-Hong Kong cable project, establishing a record of direct investment in trans-Pacific infrastructure. The new project adds local telecom partners and puts Singapore and Indonesia at the center of that network-building strategy.
Related coverage later shows the two companies joining a broader Asia-Pacific cable system spanning Japan, Taiwan, Guam and the Philippines, while Facebook also pursued a Philippines-to-California route with Amazon.
First-order effects
Facebook, Google and their local telecom partners commit to planning two new cable routes connecting Singapore and Indonesia with North America.
The project gives the participating telcos a direct role in infrastructure serving the two platforms' cross-border data traffic.
Second-order effects
The companies' later participation in another multi-market cable system extends the competitive pressure on other network builders to secure routes and local partners across Asia-Pacific.
If this pattern persists, transoceanic connectivity will be shaped increasingly by platform-led consortia that combine global internet companies with incumbent local carriers.
The repeated focus on Southeast Asian landing points points to a more distributed Asia-Pacific cable map, rather than one organized around a small number of bilateral routes.
The trend: Large internet platforms are becoming repeat investors in Asia-Pacific subsea cables, using local-carrier partnerships to expand their control over international network capacity.
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