Google plans fibre-optic cable from India to Europe running via Saudi Arabia and Israel
Google has begun laying the groundwork for a new fibre-optic internet cable from India to Europe that could be routed through arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The tech giant wants to build the $400 million cable, dubbed Blue-Raman, to bypass the regional chokepoint of Egypt.
From Mumbai to Saudi Arabia via the Red Sea google fibre optic cable
Plans would instead see the cable go from Mumbai to Saudi Arabia via the Red Sea, then up through Jordan and Israel, across the Mediterranean, and into Italy.
The project is taking shape as Arab states thaw decades of frozen relations with Israel and amid claims that Saudi Arabia is working towards recognizing the Jewish state.
Google is planning to build a $400 million internet cable, dubbed Blue-Raman – through arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel to bypass Egypt. Bahrain, the UAE, and Sudan have already agreed to establish ties with Israel, breaking with a decades-old demand among Arab states that recognizing Palestine was a necessary precursor to any deal with Israel.
While the deals are historic in themselves, President Trump, whose administration has been overseeing the process, suggested that nine other Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, were also getting ready to sign up.
While Saudi Arabia and Israel have made no official moves to establish ties, it was reported this week that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia. The meeting, if confirmed, would be the first of its kind between two senior officials from those countries. Saudi Arabia subsequently denied the meeting had taken place, and Netanyahu’s office refused to comment.
Egypt importance google fibre optic cable
But flight logs showed that a jet the Israeli leader often uses had flown between the two countries on the day in question. And a day after the reported trip took place, Israel removed Saudi Arabia from its coronavirus quarantine list.
If Saudi Arabia had been to recognize Israel, it might mark an elementary shift within the stalled Middle East peace course and would seemingly persuade different Arab states to observe swimsuits.
Any deal between the two can be an enormous enhancement to Google’s mission, which continues to be looking for permission from Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal experiences.
Because of the Middle East’s risky politics, the overwhelming majority of web cables from Asia to Europe were carried by way of Egypt.
According to the weblog Open Cables, a third of the world depends on Egypt for its web entry, leaving networks susceptible to issues within the nation.
That dependency additionally permits Egypt to charge exorbitant charges to cable operators, with the Israel-Saudi route considered as much as 50 percent cheaper to run.
Sources on the firm instructed WSJ that the route may nonetheless change and could need to run by way of Egypt if Saudi Arabia refuses to play ball. But if Riyadh provides its permission, then it may present the primary strategic hyperlink between the two previous foes. google fibre optic cable
