Amazon building Fastnet, its first solo subsea cable project

Amazon has embarked on an ambitious project to construct a subsea fiber-optic cable named Fastnet, connecting the Eastern Shore of Maryland to County Cork in Ireland. This marks a significant milestone for the tech giant as it represents its first fully-owned subsea cable initiative. Subsea fiber-optic cables are crucial for global communications, as they facilitate over 95% of international data and voice traffic. These cables are capable of transmitting an astonishing amount of data, reaching hundreds of terabits per second. They support a wide array of essential services, including government communications, financial transactions, emails, video calls, and streaming services. While Amazon has previously participated in consortium projects like Jako, Bifrost, and Havfrue, Fastnet is unique as it allows the company to take complete control over the project. Matt Rehder, Vice President of Core Networking at Amazon Web Services, emphasized the importance of subsea connectivity in an interview with CNBC. He pointed out that relying solely on satellite technology presents challenges such as higher latency, increased costs, and limited capacity to meet the demands of customers and the internet as a whole. The impressive capacity of Fastnet is projected to exceed 320 terabits per second, which equates to the capability of streaming a staggering 12.5 million HD films at the same time. This investment is driven by the surging demand for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and edge computing applications that utilize Amazon Web Services. Additionally, Fastnet aims to bolster the resilience of Amazon's network infrastructure. Although the financial details regarding the construction of Fastnet have not been disclosed, Amazon anticipates that the cable will be operational by 2028. The move is part of a larger trend, with other major tech companies like Google, Meta, and Microsoft also investing in subsea cable infrastructure to enhance their global connectivity.