MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA — Because of political conflicts in the Middle East, almost all of the Internet traffic between Europe and India currently goes through the region's one relatively neutral country, Egypt.
Google, which is competing with Facebook to build high-speed cable networks worldwide, wants to change this dependence on Egypt by running its planned Europe-to-India cable over Israel and Saudi Arabia.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google's planned cable would for the first time connect through these two historical enemies — Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The Journal says the breakthrough project follows deals orchestrated by the Trump administration that have created new diplomatic relationships between Gulf Arab states and Israel.
The Journal reports that analysts say the Egyptian government charges telecom operators some of the heaviest fees to traverse its land and waters, which can add up to 50% of the cost of a route from Europe to India.
Expanded connectivity between Europe and India would also help Google roll out data centers globally.