Google Finishes Submarine Cable Connecting North & South America

Google finished building the world’s longest submarine cable, which will significantly enhance internet speeds in the United States, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

The cable stretches from the coast of South Carolina, in the US, all the way down to Las Toninas (Argentina), with stops in Praia Grande (Brazil) and Punta del Este (Uruguay).

¡El cable submarino Firmina llegó a la Argentina! 🇦🇷

Permitirá mejorar el alcance y la resiliencia de la red en nuestro país y la región, uniendo Estados Unidos con Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay. pic.twitter.com/sygptesPm4

— Google Argentina (@googleargentina) April 8, 2024

The cable system has been named after Maria Firmina dos Reis, an XIX century Brazilian novelist whose 1859 novel, Úrsula, depicted life for Afro-Brazilians under slavery.

The cable system incorporates a unique feature: single-source power. This ensures internet connectivity remains uninterrupted even during power outages at one end of the cable.

“With 12 fiber pairs, the cable will carry traffic quickly and securely between North and South America, giving users fast, low-latency access,” wrote Bikash Koley, Head of Google Global Networking, in a blogpost.

Traditionally, subsea cables require signal amplification every 100 kilometers using high-voltage stations onshore. Firmina uses a single, high-powered source to deliver this amplification.

Google claims to be taking this technology a step further by supplying the cable with 20% higher voltage compared to previous systems, making “Maria Firmina” a highly resilient internet infrastructure.