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Microsoft Teams With Facebook To Build Data Cable Across Atlantic To Spain

By Nick Younker
Published on: 07:57 PST, May 26, 2016

Microsoft, the original tech giant, is now partnering with Facebook, the modern tech giant, to build a high-speed access data cable across the Atlantic that will terminate in Spain. This co-venture by the two tech giants is described as a gigantic operation to help streamline the data transfer process between Europe and the U.S.

The first thing that fans of both tech companies need to realize is that Microsoft and Facebook both have a very specific interest in building the high-speed transcontinental data cable. Given that Microsoft and Facebook both have such a highly profitable business in both countries (and continents), it only makes sense to make them readily available for users in all areas that will benefit the most from their services, according to Engadget.

The cable itself has been dubbed “MAREA” and is one of the most effective and fastest high-speed data cables in the world. Most internet users are used to getting data downloads between 15 Mbps to 300 Mbps. In some cases, there are cables that transfer data at around 1 Gbps to 5 Gbps. But this massive data cable from Microsoft and Facebook that will link the two major continents will have a transfer speed of 160 Tbps.

To help put that speed into perspective, most computers these days come with a terabyte of hard drive storage, which will hold hundreds of movies, music, and pictures. This Trans-Atlantic data cable from Microsoft and Facebook could transfer the contents of 160 of those computers in about one second.

Furthermore, for perspective, 160 Tb is about 160,000 gigabytes. That is how much the Microsoft/Facebook data cable can transfer — in one second.

Facebook has not been hurting any at all in recent years, with their stock staying on top of the tech sector and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg making more money than most of all other CEOs in major tech companies.

Microsoft is also that time-tested company that has been on top of the world now for decades — and likely for decades to come. Their operating software has become a universal standard and has dominated the market for so long now that it is hard for anyone to eclipse its massive market share, with the exception of Apple, of course.

The Microsoft and Facebook data cable will start out in the continental U.S. on Virginia Beach, then submerge into the murky Atlantic Ocean and surface again in Europe in Bilbao, Spain.

But the MAREA cable itself can hold much more capacity than what Microsoft and Facebook actually need. So the business end of the operations on the data cable will be managed by Telxius, which is owned by the Telefónica telecommunications company. Although Microsoft and Facebook will get their box seats on the Trans-Atlantic data cable, there will also be space rented out via capacity, and other companies can really cash in on the convenience.

Although the data cable carries an impressive high-speed transfer capacity, there could still be a limited amount of space available to other companies. There are so many tech companies on the market now that no matter how many of them want to get in on the data ride, there could be a limitation placed on who will be accepted for it. But that is just in theory at this point, and there is no telling what the business end of the Microsoft and Facebook co-venture will look like when it is completed in October 2017.

But with Microsoft’s billions of users worldwide and Facebook’s 1.6 billion active users at any given moment, the MAREA high-speed data cable could be just what they needed to make the internet more efficient.

[Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images]

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