Google is rumored to be in the planning stages of a trans-pacific, multi-company and multi-terabit cabling project in an effort to better control the company’s network backbone. The project, called “Unity,” was first revealed in a telecom conference presentation given by Level 3 Communications’ Mike Saunders, where it was listed as one amongst several different undersea cabling projects.
 
According to Business Standard, Google is looking at taking on at least 500GB of bandwidth in the Unity project, which is set up to run under a “cooperative arrangement.”
 
While Google has not directly confirmed the project or its participation in it, it has dropped numerous hints. One job posting listed a “submarine cable negotiator” who would need to “work closely with vendors to identify highly cost-effective solutions” and would be involved in “new projects or investments in cable systems that Google may contemplate to extend or grow its backbone.”  
 
Google’s Barry Schnitt noted that “additional infrastructure for the Internet is good for users” and that there are “a number of proposals to add a Pacific submarine cable,” but refused further comment. Other than saying that the submarine cable specialist listing should be “no surprise” -- Google is always looking for good help – he refused to confirm or deny the existence of the Unity project.
 
Between potentially bidding $4.6 billion or more over the 700 MHz spectrum, the growth of Google’s hosted apps, and the rapid growth of software-as-a-service in general, it’s no surprise that Google is actively seeking to expand its capacity. The company has reportedly begun peering with other ISPs in an effort to reduce its reliance on other non-peering Tier 1 networks, such as those owned by Level 3 and AT&T.