CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Facebook, Google plan new undersea cables to connect Southeast Asia and America

(Corrects Indonesian telecommunications' company to Telkom in
paragraph 6, not Telkomsel)
By Fanny Potkin and Aradhana Aravindan
SINGAPORE, March 29 (Reuters) - Facebook FB.O said on
Monday it planned two new undersea cables to connect Singapore,
Indonesia and North America in a project with Google and
regional telecommunication companies to boost internet
connection capacity between the regions.
"Named Echo and Bifrost, those will be the first two cables
to go through a new diverse route crossing the Java Sea and they
will increase overall subsea capacity in the trans-pacific by
about 70%," Facebook Vice President of Network Investments,
Kevin Salvadori, told Reuters.
He declined to specify the size of the investment, but said
it was "a very material investment for us in Southeast Asia."
The cables, according to the executive, will be the first to
directly connect North America to some of the main parts of
Indonesia, and will increase connectivity for the central and
eastern provinces of the world's fourth most populous country.
Salvadori said "Echo" is being built in partnership with
Alphabet's Google GOOGL.O and Indonesian telecommunications'
company XL Axiata EXCL.JK and should be completed by 2023.
Bifrost, which is being done in partnership with Telin, a
subsidiary of Indonesia's Telkom TLKM.JK , and Singaporean
conglomerate Keppel KPLM.SI is due to be completed by 2024.
The two cables, which will need regulatory approval, follow
previous investments by Facebook to build up connectivity in
Indonesia, one of its top five markets globally.
While 73% of Indonesia's population of 270 million are
online, the majority access the web through mobile data, with
less than 10 percent using a broadband connection, according to
a 2020 survey by the Indonesian Internet Providers Association.
Swathes of the country, remain without any internet access.
Facebook said last year it would deploy 3,000 km (1,8641
miles) of fibre in Indonesia across twenty cities in addition to
a previous deal to develop public Wi-Fi hot spots.
Aside from the Southeast Asian cables, Facebook was
continuing with its broader subsea plans in Asia and globally,
including with the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN), Salvadori
said.
"We are working with partners and regulators to meet all of
the concerns that people have, and we look forward to that cable
being a valuable, productive transpacific cable going forward in
the near future," he said.
The 12,800 km PLCN, which is being funded by Facebook and
Alphabet, had met U.S government resistance over plans for a
Hong Kong conduit. It was originally intended to link the United
States, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Facebook said earlier this month it would drop efforts to
connect the cable between California and Hong Kong due to
"ongoing concerns from the U.S. government about direct
communication links between the United States and Hong Kong".