imaginima
Google will run undersea cables to provide internet access to at least eight distant Pacific Ocean countries under a joint U.S.-Australian agreement, Reuters reported citing a U.S. official.
The agreement — which is set to be announced on Wednesday during a White House visit by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — will extend an existing commercial project by the Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) unit in the region to Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Australia will contribute $50M while the U.S. will pitch in with another $15M, the report added, citing a senior administration official.
The remote countries of the Pacific have become an area of interest in recent years, with both China and the U.S. wooing them with infrastructure development and military collaborations.
Under the Pacific islands project, the U.S. will work with the countries on cybersecurity, helping them back up vital information to global cloud networks, as per the official.
Google is currently working on a fiber-optic cable which links Taiwan with the Philippines and the U.S.
