Trans-Pacific Cable Chaos, Shifting Asian Hubs
It’s been a year since the U.S. government denied a cable license to the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN), setting off a chain reaction that's disrupted the trans-Pacific submarine cable market.
PLCN, a Chinese-majority-owned cable system, was announced in 2017 and was planned to connect Hong Kong to Los Angeles with branches to Taiwan and the Philippines. National security concerns from U.S. authorities significantly delayed PLCN’s activation.
In February 2020, Google requested to activate one of six fiber pairs to Taiwan only. Then, the U.S. Department of Justice declined PLCN’s landing in Hong Kong in June 2020.
In August 2020, Google and Facebook re-filed a new landing license application that excludes PLDC and the cable’s landing to Hong Kong. The new PLCN cable thus became a system that has one fiber pair between the U.S. and Taiwan and one fiber pair between the U.S. and the Philippines.
In August 2020, Google and Facebook re-filed a new landing license application that excludes PLDC and the cable’s landing to Hong Kong. The new PLCN cable thus became a system that has one fiber pair between the U.S. and Taiwan and one fiber pair between the U.S. and the Philippines.
