Microsoft has announced the completion of the highest-capacity subsea cable to cross the Atlantic — a conduit that can transmit up to 160 terabits of data per second, more than 16 million times faster than the average home internet connection.
Dubbed “Marea,” Spanish for “tide,” the 4,000-mile-long cable runs from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Bilbao, Spain. The cable is a joint project between Microsoft, Facebook and global telecommunication infrastructure company Telxius. Marea’s route is a departure from other subsea transatlantic connections that land in New York and New Jersey, helping to ensure more resilient and reliable connections for customers while meeting the growing global demand for internet and cloud services.
“Completed in less than two years — nearly three times faster than is typical — Marea is a powerful example of the important role the private sector has to play in connecting the world,” says Suresh Kumar, corporate vice president of Microsoft Cloud Infrastructure & Operations, on The Official Microsoft Blog.
Learn more about the cable and an event Friday in Virginia to celebrate its completion on Microsoft’s Marea site.
