Tom Krazit wrote this afternoon, "[T]he Pacific undertaking will allow the company to link its data centers in the U.S. and Japan with one of the fastest pipes on the planet, ensuring that Google services will be delivered quickly and cheaply to Asia."

And more specifically, Krazit also stated, "In return for its investment–the amount of which was not disclosed–Google is entitled to 20 percent of the overall capacity for its needs, according to partners involved with the project."

This should help keep Google competitive in most of Asia for quite a while.  All the more so if it pulls out of China, too, since servicing that large market could otherwise claim a lot of resources.

One last important note: the other partners in the Unity Consortium are Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, KDDI, Pacnet, and SingTel, meaning Google has made friends with some very important international corporations.

Bobbie Johnson wrote today, "The agreement to build the submarine cable was first proposed three years ago, but negotiations finally came to a close on Wednesday as officials signed what they promised was a groundbreaking deal."

Bharti (of India), Globe Telecom (the Philippines), KDDI (Japan), Reliance Globalcom (Bermuda), and Telemedia Pacific (Hong Kong/Indonesia) will all be involved in addition to America’s favorite search engine.  As for the cable itself, it’ll stretch between China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore at first, with extensions possible in the future.

The SJC should allow individual and corporate Internet users in the region to transfer information (including ads) at much higher speeds and lower costs.  It might create a couple of redundancies, too, in the event that earthquakes or anchor-dragging ships disrupt existing lines of communication.

The SJC should be completed by the second quarter of 2012.  It carries an estimated price tag of $400 million.

Related Articles:

> Google Puts Universal Search In Suggestions, Launches Quick Scroll

> Google Makes A Second Real-Time Search Announcement

> Google Most Popular Site Among Seniors

The FLAG Europe-Asia, GO-1, SeaMeWe-3, and SeaMeWe-4 cables were all damaged 10 days ago.  SeaMeWe-4 was the first to be fixed.  Now, James Niccolai reports, "Engineers from France Telecom had just finished repairing the Sea Me We 4 cable on Dec. 25 when the same cable broke again in a different place, this time 388 kilometers (241 miles) off the coast of Alexandria in Egypt . . ."

 

So a repair ship known as the Raymond Croz is going to pick up more cable from a base in Sicily and take a second crack at repairing SeaMeWe-4.  SeaMeWe-3 will be placed on the figurative backburner while this occurs.

But things aren’t quite as bad this time as last.  Work on the FLAG Europe-Asia and GO-1 cables should continue according to plan, since they’re owned by a different company.  And, if we’re to seek out more positive results, satellite Internet providers in the Middle East and South Asia are almost certainly getting rich right now.

Look for some semblance of normality to return by January 5th.  The cause(s) of all the cable damage hasn’t yet been determined.

Sound familiar?  Well, a TeleGeography post acknowledges, "The current series of faults is reminiscent of the submarine cable faults that occurred in January 2008."  But it continues, "Today’s events have the potential to create worse disruptions: while the January 2008 accidents broke two of the three cables connecting Europe with Asia via the Middle East, Friday’s cable failures have caused faults on all three."

 

Unconfirmed reports have a fourth cable (connecting Malta to Sicily) malfunctioning, too.  So people in Bahrain, Egypt, India, Kuwait, Malta, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates may all be getting a bit cranky until everything’s back to normal.

The good news is that a relatively quick fix is expected, anyway, with December 31st being the target date for a resumption of normal service.

Meanwhile, don’t be surprised if this development causes companies that are focused on constructing new undersea cables to work a little quicker.

A TeleGeography article states that the SJC "would link Unity’s landing station in Japan to Guam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore."  Also, "The members of the SJC consortium are nearly identical to Unity with a few exceptions.  Companies that are participating in both consortia are Google, Bharti, SingTel, KDDI and Global Transit."

 Planned Route Of The Southeast Asia Japan Cable
(Image Credit: Telegeography.com)

It seems there’s little to do other than wait for the thing to get built, then, with all these details already taken care of.  Since the first rumors of Unity appeared in September of 2007, and it’s facing an early 2010 completion date, think 2011 for the SJC.

This development should give Google a real advantage (higher speeds, lower costs) over its competitors in Asia.  It also speaks to the company’s long-term commitment to the region, even if it’s not doing so well in certain countries at the moment.

A hat tip goes to Om Malik, who noted for comparison’s sake, "The Unity cable is expected to cost about $300 million."

The Dubai Port Trust authorities have impounded MV Hounslow and MT Ann, according to Reliance Globalcom, which owns the cables. The authorities impounded the ships after Reliance Globalcom turned over details of the ships after examining the satellite images of the ships movements around the area of undersea cable damage.

Before this latest development there were a number of conspiracy theories floating around concerning the cut cables.

"The matter has been brought to the notice of appropriate authorities which are taking necessary action," an official from Reliance Globalcom said, according to The Hindu. The official said the undersea cable was damaged because of jerks and the force of the ship.

The Dubai Port authorities plan on speaking to the owners and captains of the two ships for an explanation.
 

The International Telecommunication Union says damage to the undersea cables that caused Internet and phone access outages all over the Middle East could have been the result of sabotage.

One cable cut—the one off the coast of UAE and Oman—was been the result of an anchor, officials said in this report. But that seems a doubtful cause for the other four, considering the depth at which they lay on the ocean floor.

As a result, they’ve not ruled out the possibility of sabotage.

Just more evidence that our original theory was right: Terrorist sharks with frickin’ lasers attached to their heads.