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A group of six international companies has announced plans to build an ultra-high speed, undersea, fiber-optic cable under the Pacific Ocean, between Japan and the United States. The project is meant to improve Internet and other telecommunication¹ traffic between the U.S. and Asia, and comes as several other companies have begun similar ventures.

六家公司宣布计划在日本和美国之间敷设横跨太平洋的超高速光导纤维海底电缆，以改善美国和亚洲地区的互联网和电讯交通。与此同时，好几个其他的公司也开始进行类似的项目。

Singapore Telecommunications, Internet search company Google, and four other companies plan to spend $300 million on the underwater communications link. They say it will be ready for use by 2010. The new cable network, called Unity², will link Chikura, Japan, with the western U.S. city of Los Angeles, a distance of about 10,000 kilometers. The system will also connect to other Asian telecommunications cable systems.

新加坡电讯公司、专营互联网搜索的谷歌公司以及其他4个公司计划投资3亿美元铺设海底电缆。这些公司表示，这条海底电缆将在2010年投入使用。这条名为“UNITY”的电缆网络的两端，一端是日本的千仓，另一端是美国的洛杉矶，长度大约为1万公里。这条电缆通讯系统将跟亚洲其他电讯电缆系统连接。

Fiber-optic cables are the lifelines for connecting Internet users on different continents. This latest project is part of a surge in new transpacific cable construction projects, driven primarily by increasing demand in Asia.

光导纤维是各大洲的互联网用户相互联络的生命线。有关公司宣布的这个最新的光导纤维电缆建设工程，是跨越太平洋之间的电缆建设热潮的一部分。这股热潮主要是亚洲地区不断增长的需求推动的。

Martin Gutberlet is the Vice³ President for Technology and Research at Gartner's Singapore office. He says within two to three years, Internet traffic between the United States and Asia could double.

马丁.古特伯赖特是加德纳技术和研究咨询公司驻新加坡办事处的副总裁。他说，在两到三年内，美国和亚洲地区之间的互联网通讯量可能翻番。

"And lots of traffic will be actually generated in Asia, so therefore there is simply more capacity needed between the U.S. and Asia," he said.

他说：“互联网通讯量很多将是在亚洲产生的，因此美国和亚洲之间需要更大的通讯容量。”

Gutberlet says that, based on current forecasts, now is the best time for companies to supply additional capacity between North America and Asia.

古特伯赖特说，按照目前的预测，现在是有关公司兴建增容工程的最好时机。eMarketer是一个互联网和电子商务研究公司。

eMarketer, an Internet and e-business research company, predicts that by 2012, almost 50 percent of the world's Internet users will live in the Asia Pacific region.

该公司预计，到2012年，全世界将近50%的互联网用户在亚太地区。

But, investments in undersea cable links are not without risk.

但是，在海底的光缆铺设投资并不是没有风险的。

In December 2006, a strong earthquake near Taiwan damaged four large offshore⁴ cables, disrupting Internet service for millions of people across Asia. Service was not fully⁵ restored for weeks.

在2006年，台湾附近发生强烈地震，损坏了4条海底电缆，中断了亚洲地区成百万的互联网用户的通讯服务。过了好几个星期之后，互联网服务才完全恢复。

Earlier this year, communications in large parts of the Middle East and Southeast Asia were affected⁶ after two undersea cables were damaged in the Mediterranean⁷ Sea.

今年早些时候，中东和东南亚地区许多地方的通讯因为地中海海底电缆受损而受到影响。

Gutberlet says, aside from avoiding seismically⁸ unstable⁹ spots on the ocean floor, it is impossible to forecast such problems.

古特伯赖特说，在铺设电缆的过程中，除了避免太平洋洋底的地质不稳定的地点之外，人们不可能预测地震会造成什么问题。

"So that is simply something which you can't plan for. And of course, if you have an earthquake, or if someone is, you know, hitting your cable with a boat, or a ship, then you simply have bad luck," he said.

他说：“这种事情，人们是无法计划预防的。当然，假如发生地震，或者假如船只碰坏了电缆，那你就只好自认倒霉。”

And in 2000, during the dot-com bust¹⁰, several telecommunications companies went bankrupt when too many competitors entered the market.

在2000年，在互联网公司纷纷倒闭的时候，好几家电讯公司因为大批竞争者进入市场而破产。

Gutberlet says one of the reasons most underwater cables are laid by consortiums is to lessen¹¹ the risks for a single company. At the rate the Asia Pacific's telecommunications market is forecast to expand, Gutberlet says the financial attraction of such ventures far outweighs¹² the potential risks.

古特伯赖特说，海底电缆通常是一些公司联合铺设的一个原因，是他们力图减少一个公司所承受的风险。他说，按照目前亚太地区电讯市场预测增长的速度来看，从事这样的基本建设的盈利前景大大超过可能的风险。