PROGRES.ID – Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, will manage an undersea fiber optic cable that will provide improved internet access for at least eight remote countries in the Pacific Ocean region. This is the result of cooperation between the United States (US) and Australia, as announced on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, during the official visit of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the White House.
This agreement will expand Google’s existing commercial project in the Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu regions, as reported by Reuters.
In connection with this significant project, the Australian government will contribute $50 million, while the US government will add an additional $15 million, according to a senior administration official.
Small and sometimes isolated nations in the Pacific region have been the focus of attention in recent years. China and the United States have been competing to gain their support in infrastructure development and military partnerships.
US President Joe Biden, as reported by Reuters, has also emphasized the importance of US dominance in the telecommunications service industry, considering it a critical national security issue because it controls the flow of information worldwide.
Currently, Google is working on a fiber optic cable project that connects Taiwan, an autonomous territory with claims by China, to the Philippines and the United States.
As part of the project in the Pacific islands, the US will collaborate with these countries to strengthen their cybersecurity resilience and assist them in storing critical information copies on the global cloud network, according to the official.
