Google and Meta have agreed to extra security requirements for their planned trans-Pacific submarine cable in order to gain approval for the project from US authorities. The agreement for the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) system was announced by the Department of Justice, on behalf of the 'Team Telecom' authorities vetting telecom infrastructure projects.
First announced in 2017, the cable system has been delayed several times due to US security concerns about access for China to the network. Under the latest plan, the system will connect the US, Taiwan and the Philippines, but not Hong Kong as originally planned.
The companies agreed that Pacific Light Data Communications, the Hong Kong-based majority shareholder in the project, will have restricted access to the infrastructure and information. In addition, they agreed to conduct annual risk assessments for sensitive data using the system and look at adding branches to Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
The agreements were made with the Departments of Justice, Defense, and Homeland Security, all part of Team telecom. They have now recommended that the Federal Communications Commission grant a licence for the cable system based on compliance with the security conditions.
The DoJ said the decision to reject the cable under its previous plan and impose new security conditions is based on the "current national security environment". In this context, the Chinese government shows "sustained efforts to acquire the sensitive personal data of millions of US persons" and attempts to access other countries’ data through both digital infrastructure investments and recent intelligence and cybersecurity law. According to the DoJ, "changes in the market have transformed subsea cable infrastructure into increasingly data-rich environments that are vulnerable to exploitation".
