Google, Facebook & Co are expanding submarine cables in Asia and Africa New, 12,000 km long submarine cables improve Internet connections in Japan and Southeast Asia. At the same time, the 2Africa project is being expanded to more countries.

Google and Facebook are investing in new and expanded submarine cable networks with regional telecommunications providers. While the "Apricot" project better connects six countries in Asia, the 2Africa network is being expanded by four new branches for additional countries and island regions. The projects should offer faster and more stable internet connections in the connected regions from 2024 and 2023 respectively. The new Apricot submarine cable network connects Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Guam, Indonesia and the Philippines over a length of 12,000 kilometers. It is an addition to two submarine cables between the USA and Indonesia, which the two data companies have announced as "Bifrost" and "Echo". According to Google, the new project should be completed in 2024 and initially offer a capacity of more than 190 terabits per second. Facebook is also working on the criticized submarine cable project PCLN. The Pacific Light Cable Network was announced in 2017 as the first direct such connection between the USA and Hong Kong. That has been delayed given the tension between China and the US. In the end the resistance had become too strong. The last section to Hong Kong is no longer to be added. So far, the cable connects San Francisco with Taiwan and the Philippines.