Google is laying the groundwork for a fiber-optic network that for the
first time will connect through historical enemies Saudi Arabia and
Israel while opening a new corridor for global internet traffic,
according to people familiar with the plans. From a report: The project
linking India to Europe is Google’s latest globe-crossing internet
construction effort. The Alphabet subsidiary is vying with Facebook to
build more network capacity to support its surging user demand for
videos, search results and other products. Expanded connectivity between
Europe and India would also help Google roll out data centers globally
and catch up to rivals Microsoft and Amazon.com in the business of
on-demand cloud-computing. Google, which names most of its internet
cables after scientists, has dubbed the new route Blue Raman after Indian
physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. A submarine cable project the
length of Blue Raman — at more than 5,000 miles — would cost typically
up to $400 million, according to Dubai-based telecommunications firm
Salience Consulting. Google is expected to turn to telecom-company
partners to help fund the project, including Oman Telecommunications and
Telecom Italia, which are helping finance the route, according to those
with knowledge of the project. Those partners and others will help fund
the cable’s construction while sharing its fiber-optic infrastructure.
Those familiar with Google’s Blue Raman project cautioned that it still
might not materialize. Because it crosses multiple borders, the project
will require agreements with several regulators, and one setback could
force Google to redesign the route. For example, Google’s consortium
still lacks the go-ahead it needs from Saudi government authorities to
connect the Blue Raman project, some of these people said. …
