7 Current Affairs Notes on Echo and Bifrost

Facebook has planned to put two undersea Internet cables to connect Southeast Asia to North America, to increase data capacity and improve the internet authenticity.

1. The Two Cables are named as “Echo” and “Bifrost”. The cables will connect Singapore, Indonesia and North America.
2. Echo is being installed in partnership with Google and Indonesian telecommunications’ company XL Axiata. It is scheduled to be completed by 2023.
3. Bifrost is being built in partnership with Indonesia’s Telin and Singapore’s Keppel, and is planned to be completed by 2024.
4. Facebook is partnered with companies like Google and some regional telecommunication companies.
5. The costs for the project have not yet been disclosed, but Facebook mentioned it required as they put it “a very material investment” for the company in Southeast Asia.
6. Facebook said, the cables will be the first ones to directly link North America to some of the main parts of Indonesia, one of the company’s top five markets in the world.
7. A survey by the Indonesian Internet Providers Association last year showed that while 73 percent of Indonesians use the internet, the majority access the web through mobile data, and 10% or less of the population use fixed-line broadband.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2021