Why Should You Care About Google's (GOOGL) New Undersea Cable?

Alphabet Inc. subsidiary Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) activated its $300M high-speed network on Thursday, called FASTER. The network, made up of undersea fiber optic cables, carries data between Oregon and Japan at 60 terabits per second. From Oregon, the cable also connects to Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.

The project was made in conjunction with five other telecom companies: KDDI Corp., China Mobile International (NYSE:CHL) , Global Transit, SingTel, and China Telecom Global.

Cool, But Why?

According to Google’s official release, the project is meant to support users using Google Apps and the Cloud Platform. It is “about ten million times faster” than the average cable modem, and is part of a preface to Google’s expansion of its Cloud service regions to Tokyo and Oregon.

The cable system also makes use of Japanese landing zones that are outside of tsunami zones in order to keep networks running even when systems may be impacted by those natural events.

Okay Now I Know Why, But Should I Care?

FASTER is by no means the only undersea cable network, but it is the fastest. This, along with Google Fiber, points towards a new benchmark in high speed internet. FASTER also serves as a supplement to the reputation Google has for being an innovative company, one that is constantly investing in new projects.

According to their official website, Google is continuing to expand their Fiber network to various locations in the United States, with upcoming plans in San Francisco, San Antonio, Huntsville, Salt Lake City, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham.

FASTER is a sign that Google’s networks aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, and give investors further reason to keep an eye on the company moving forward.

Bottom Line

There's no doubt that Google is busy with all that’s on their plate. FASTER is one of many ventures that will provide Google with a platform to continue creating and expanding.

Google currently sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).