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Facebook invests in underwater fiber optic cable to fish for more Asian users

facebook-asia-underwater-cable
Image Credit: http://k3nnykid.deviantart.com/art/underwater-cable-189871304

facebook-asia-underwater-cable

Facebook has invested in a 6,214-mile Asian undersea cable that will give better Internet connectivity to several countries, the BBC reports.

The investment could potentially help Facebook draw more users in South Asia, especially in places like Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore. Facebook has more than 900 million monthly active users, but if it wants to continue to grow, it needs many countries to get better Internet access.

The BBC says the Asia Pacific Gateway cable will run directly from Malaysia to South Korea and Japan, with links that branch off to other countries like China and Vietnam. The entire cable project will cost a consortium of companies including Facebook at least $450 million. Facebook’s exact share of that amount has not been revealed.

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Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Asia Pacific Gateway is expected to be finished in the third quarter of 2014.

Underwater cable art: k3nnykid/DeviantArt