A consortium of tech firms including SoftBank, NTT, Facebook and Amazon have hit go on a new trans-Pacific subsea cable project.
The Jupiter cable system will link Japan and the Philippines with the west coast of the United States.
It is expected to have a capacity in excess of 60 Tbps and be ready for service in early 2020.
The full list of partners in the Jupiter consortium are PLDT, NTT Communications, PCCW Global, SoftBank, Facebook and Amazon.
The consortium announced overnight that a supply contract with TE SubCom is now “in force”, a status that indicates binding agreements have been signed to complete construction and bring the cable system into operation.
"The demand for bandwidth in the Pacific region continues to grow at a remarkable rate, and is accompanied by the rise of capacity-dependent applications like live video, augmented and virtual reality, and 4K/8K video," SoftBank general manager and co-chairperson of the Jupiter consortium, Koji Ishii, said in a statement.
“TE SubCom has a proven record of success in the design and implementation of innovative, scalable and robust transoceanic cable systems, making the company the most reliable choice for the Jupiter supply partner."
TE SubCom is also the builder of the Hawaiki cable system that will connect the US with Australia and New Zealand.
