Facebook working with China Mobile to bring undersea internet to Africa in $1 Billion deal

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/05/14/facebook-working-with-china-mo.html

New mega subsea cable to bring more reliable high-speed internet to Africa, Mideast

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Itā€™s fascinating to see the American empire withering and drawing inward like this. There was a time when the U.S. would have taken the lead in a massive infrastructure project like this, if only as a way to extend its power. Now itā€™s playing second banana via a totally dispensable service provider rather than a carrier. China is setting itself up to be the 21st centuryā€™s leading global power.

All that aside, itā€™s great that the African continent will get better Internet.

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We canā€™t even get our rural communities internetā€¦

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While America is busy wanting to push aside and ignore ā€œshit hole countriesā€ China is eying it as the last area of largely untapped potential. Potential of man power for industry, potential customers, potential resources. Already there are pockets of Africa experiencing rapid modernization and cities that donā€™t look any different than ā€œwesternā€ ones in terms of technology and enterprise.

Assuming the social-political landscape can remain stable, expect the sleeping Dragon to fully awake and begin to partner with and fuel the sleeping Lion.

American exceptionalism and place in the hierarchy is poised to be knocked down a few pegs. China was the supreme superpower of the world once, and it has the ability to be so again.

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Rural Americans canā€™t get high-speed internet but Aquaman can now??

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I read this book based on a recommendation from boing boing before and it was amazing. Especially the information on undersea cablingā€¦

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China is buying up huge tracts of farming land in Africa. Itā€™s a long-term investment, to be able in the future to export food to feed their citizens. They offer infrastructure the countries cannot afford on their own as a ā€˜tradeā€™. By the time that food is leaving the docks and the countriesā€™ starving poor cotton on, it will be too late. Nothing China does has an altruistic motive - it is all ulterior motive and looking at these is what savvy politicians elsewhere ought to be doing. (Sorry, forgot we have so few savvy politicians, so strike that.)

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I never said it was altruistic. China is eying using Africa the same way the US used China.

I havenā€™t heard about them buying farm land to feed China. Doesnā€™t China have a huge growing area, like the US has?

We have more than enough food - itā€™s the logistics and in some cases greed that leaves people starving.

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The population of China is one fifth of the worldā€™s, and arable lands are less than 10% of the countryā€™s territory.

ā€¦from the article below (mentions many more countries than France - which is only mentioned at the end)

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If you can import food (or make your farms more productive), you can let your cities gobble up your own farmland.

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I guess, but China is huge. Not sure land is their issue?

I guess more and cheaper food for them is good.

Thanks for the info!

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But apparently itā€™s not all true. Who to believe?

http://www.sais-cari.org/data-chinese-agricultural-investments-in-africa

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Dragonā€¦

Lionā€¦

Whatā€™s that leave for the USA? A turkey?

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ā€¦I guess the Eagle, since its our symbol.

Though a Mountain Lion might fit the theme better?

The turkey is who is in the White House.

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More likely they want to bring high-speed facebook to Africa. Just like when they made facebook free on African mobile phones, this is only good for facebook, but not for Africa.

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