Microsoft has invested in undersea cables to connect its global data centres.Davis Crowley, MD: network enablement at Microsoft, told International Telecoms Week how important it is for Microsoft to have an infrastructure that can deliver the cloud services, including Azure, which its customers need to support their global businesses.
“Over the past nine months, Microsoft has been significantly investing in subsea and terrestrial dark fibre capacity by engaging in fibre partnerships that span multiple oceans and continents,” he says. “And today, our connections across the Atlantic and Pacific just got stronger.
“We announced deals with Hibernia and Aqua Comms, in which Microsoft is investing in a cable with each company to connect Microsoft’s data centre infrastructure from North America to Ireland and on to the UK. These cables will help deliver data at higher speeds, with higher capacity and lower latency for our customers across the globe,” he says.
“Additionally, we joined a consortium comprised of China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, KT Corporation with TE SubCom as the cable supplier. As part of our participation in the consortium, Microsoft will invest in its first physical landing station in the US connecting North America to Asia.”
The New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable Network will provide faster data connections for customers, aid Microsoft in competing on cloud costs, all while creating jobs and spurring local economies, says Crowley. The goal of our expansions and investments in subsea cables is so our customers have the greatest access to scale and highly available data, anywhere.