Latest fibre optic technology in Hong Kong to vault the Pacific Ocean
Leap in technology testament to how Hong Kong has developed into a fibre optic telecommunications hub, expert says
By next summer, Hong Kong could be helping internet users stream 80 million high-definition video calls – all at the same time.
This would be thanks to a super high-speed fibre optic cable, which is being built by Google and Facebook, which aims to span the 12,000 kilometres separating Hong Kong and Los Angeles across the Pacific Ocean.
The latest leap in technology was testament to how Hong Kong had developed into a fibre optic telecommunications hub, an industry expert said, as consumers demand faster and more reliable internet.
“Hong Kong is a hub in fibre optics telecommunications. Why do cables land here? It’s well regulated, and it is easier to land bureaucracy wise than in [mainland] China,” said Christopher Welsh, chief executive officer of EGS, an international surveying company based in the city that plans routes for undersea cables.
Roughly the width of a garden hose and buried in the seabed, submarine cables use fibre optic technology to help data transmission from one end to the other at extremely high speed, supporting the world’s internet and communication systems.