WASHINGTON — Microsoft and Facebook announced an agreement Thursday to build a new, state-of-the-art subsea cable that will connect the Northern Virginia data hub in the U.S. to Bilbao, Spain, enhancing network speed from Europe to the Middle East and Africa.
The new cable will be named “MAREA,” (Spanish for “tide”) and will be farther south than other Transatlantic cables.
Microsoft and Facebook say they have cleared conditions to move forward with their plans, and construction on the cable is expected to begin in August with completion expected by October 2017.
The two companies say they are collaborating on the system to accelerate the development of next-generation Internet infrastructure and rapid growth of their cloud and online services. Microsoft alone operates more than 200 cloud-based services, including Bing, Office 365, Skype and Xbox Live.
The 4,100 mile long MAREA cable will be the highest-capacity subsea cable to cross the Atlantic, with a capacity of 160 terabits per second. It will also be the first connecting the United States to Southern Europe.
The cable will be operated by Spanish telecom Telefonica SA’s networking business Telxius, which will also sell capacity.
