Google now owns the Atlantic Ocean

Map of submarine cables with British Empire in 1902

source : Atlantic cables maps 

From Pulse by Sunil Tagare

I hate to say I called it but yes, I did about 5 years ago.

The idea was very simple. Instead of running 10 submarine cables across the Atlantic, how about creating 2 Guams in the Atlantic Ocean: one in Bermuda and one Azores with a loop and then aggregate a bunch of cables on both continents?

That would save about 70% of CAPEX and more importantly make the network far more resilient and increase security by creating loops within both the continents.

This was my idea long time ago.

In fact, when Google first announced the Nuvem cable, they had Bermuda as a landing party but not Azores. 

I wrote to them and urged them to add Azores which to their credit, they did almost immediately. 

 

 

pc: Google; First announcement of the Nuvem Cable

 

pc: OpenCables, Inc.; My vision of a trans-Atlantic network

I have to admit.

Google has not only embraced the concept but they have gone far beyond my own expectations.

They announced a bunch of cables recently called Americas Connect.

 

pc: Google; Note: Map not to scale. Azores not labeled--maybe I should draw the maps for them

 

pc: Google; They really need to change their graphics dude or is it their AI rebelling?

 

pc: Google

 

pc: Google

I think this is brilliant.

I think the brilliance is that they have connected Panama to the Atlantic Ocean which is connected to Chile and the US West Coast.

That changes everything for South America connectivity especially as it pertains to connectivity to Europe.

Also, this is the first time, the West Coast and the East Coast of the US can be reached directly by a submarine cable. This may go unnoticed but is very important in times of disaster recovery situations.

With this masterstroke, Google now owns the Atlantic Ocean.

No one else will be able to compete with them on price, latency, resilience, security or connectivity.

Which brings up an interesting question.

Will Google allow 3rd party cables to connect to their Bermuda and Azores cable stations?

Basically are they open cable landing stations?

I had a long talk with folks in Bermuda and Azores governments and both were non-committal about the Open CLS issue.

Will Google sell the Bermuda to Azores fibers along with the Open CLS?

I doubt it.

Google's complete control over the Atlantic will shape the future of the trans-Atlantic AI industry for decades to come.

It will be impossible for anyone else to recreate what they have done especially since they have Bermuda and Azores in their pockets -- just like Cable & Wireless milked Bermuda and Azores for decades.

Also, they are just getting started.

Wait for significant more cable announcements on this route -- which will make it harder and harder for anyone to replicate this.

Interestingly, when I visited the submarine cable museum in Lisbon, I saw the ancient telegraph cable maps.

Guess what?

Azores was the central point for all the cables coming in from North America before they got distributed to every country in Europe.

Just a fun fact for the submarine cable nerds.