A submarine cable cross-section. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The new trans-Pacific submarine cable system of the six-company consortium, which includes Google, has been completed and tested. The system, called Unity, is now ready for service, according to a Google news release.

The $300-million system enables direct connectivity between Japan and California. In Japan, Unity lands in Chikura, near Tokyo, where it is connected to multiple other networks for connectivity into Asia. On the west coast of the US, the system lands in Los Angeles, Palo Alto and San Jose. In Palo Alto, the cable will terminate at a Switch and Data facility, as DCD previously reported.

"Following months of testing to ensure that the cable system meets the rigorous transmission standards specified, the Unity cable system is now ready to deliver the much anticipated capacity to meet the Trans-Pacific connectivity needs of members of the consortium," Unity Executive Committee Chairman Chris Wilson said in a statement.

The 9,620-km cable system can provide up to 4.8 Terabits per second of bandwidth across the Pacific Ocean. It consists of five fiber pairs, with each pair capable of delivering up to 960 Gbps.

In addition to Google, the consortium consists of Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, KDDI Corporation, Pacnet and SingTel. The project's main suppliers were NEC Corporation and TE SubCom (former Tyco Telecommunications). The consortium commenced construction in February 2008. The system's launch date was not announced.

According to the consortium, the Unity system will help sustain increased growth in data and Internet traffic between Asia and the US.