Israel to Play Key Role in Giant Google Fiber Optic Cable Project
By Amitai Ziv, Haaretz
April 14, 2020
By Amitai Ziv, HaaretzIsrael will soon have a critical place on Google’s expanding global fiber optic network. The U.S. technology giant is planning a cable called Blue-Raman (the latter half named after the Indian Nobel Prize laureate Venkata Raman) that will run between India and Italy through Israel.
The Raman half of the cable will start in the Indian port city of Mumbai, run beneath the Indian Ocean and overland across an unnamed country, presumed to be Saudi Arabia, before ending at the Jordanian port of Aqaba.
The Blue portion of the cable will begin in the Italian port of Genoa, continue beneath the Mediterranean, cross through Israel and end in Aqaba where it will link up with the Raman cable.
At an estimated cost of $400 million, the Blue-Raman cable is expected to reach Israel in 2022. Telecom Italia’s Sparkle subsidiary is partnering with Google on the western portion while the Raman portion is being developed with Omani telecom company Omantel.
Israel is currently linked to the worldwide web by three undersea cables. One of the cables belongs to Israeli telecom company Bezeq. The second, older cable is operated by Telecom Italia’s MedNautilus, which handles most of Israel’s non-Bezeq web traffic. The third is controlled by Israeli company Tamares Telecom, which serves smaller internet companies and provides backup for the others.
Israel has enough fiber optic capacity on these cables; in fact, usage is in the single-digit percentages. Nevertheless, it will also benefit from Blue-Raman.
Israel is currently linked to the worldwide web by three undersea cables. One of the cables belongs to Israeli telecom company Bezeq. The second, older cable is operated by Telecom Italia’s MedNautilus, which handles most of Israel’s non-Bezeq web traffic. The third is controlled by Israeli company Tamares Telecom, which serves smaller internet companies and provides backup for the others.
