Innovation cannot exist without an underlying infrastructure network to support it.
Last week, PYMNTS reported that the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership, led by Microsoft, BlackRock and others, plans to spend up to $100 billion on artificial intelligence (AI) data centers to ensure the plumbing for connected data centers is in place. It was reported that. The future of the economy.
After all, the digital infrastructure being built today is not just the preserve of the tech elite, it is the foundation of how the world does business.
But data centers alone cannot enable future global connectivity. Internet access requires the Internet, which is traditionally distributed around the world via undersea cables. Today, a network of these active undersea cables spans oceans and connects continents in a literal Internet service value chain, facilitating the high-speed transfer of data essential to everything from video streaming to cloud computing to financial transactions. I’m doing it.
Traditionally, undersea cables have been built and maintained by a consortium of telecommunications companies and government-backed organizations. However, this has changed as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon expand their roles in infrastructure. Google is part or sole owner of about 33 undersea cables, Meta owns more than a dozen, Microsoft has five, and Amazon has four. In the past decade alone, international cable capacity used by the same four tech giants has jumped from 10% to 71%, according to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Big Tech’s investments in these undersea cables could help everything from online banking to cross-border trade as businesses and consumers seek faster, more reliable connections to conduct transactions. It has become essential. These cables do more than just data transfer and cloud capacity. They are the invisible threads that stitch together the fabric of a connected economy.
Read more: How 10 payment professionals are “doing” digital in the post-pandemic era
Secure the backbone of the connected economy
The global economy relies on digital infrastructure to support commerce and payments. As consumer habits shift towards digital transactions and businesses expand into international markets, the importance of a robust and secure data infrastructure becomes paramount. For example, global payments are facilitated by real-time data transfers that instantly cross borders, supported by submarine cables.
More than $150 trillion in cross-border payments are made each year, and that number is expected to grow as digital commerce expands. Payment networks are increasingly verifying transactions through real-time risk assessments, especially leveraging AI and other data-intensive tools, to ensure these transfers occur quickly and securely. A delay is required.
The faster and more securely we can transfer data, the smoother and more secure the world of commerce will be. For example, as more companies move their operations to the cloud, they can greatly benefit from fast, uninterrupted data connectivity around the world.
And as the world moves towards more digital and real-time payment solutions, the underlying infrastructure becomes even more important. Technologies such as blockchain, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and instant payment platforms rely on low-latency, high-capacity networks. These innovations have the potential to transform cross-border commerce by reducing friction, lowering fees, and shortening settlement times.
Read more: Meta says it’s solving AR experiences — who’s solving AR payments?
The future of digital payments and cross-border commerce
However, all of these improvements rely on the physical layer of infrastructure, particularly submarine cables, to be able to support the demands of these payment systems.
At the same time, as global trade and e-commerce expands, especially in regions such as Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the need for fast and secure connectivity is growing exponentially. Big Tech’s investments in submarine cables in these regions open new avenues for expanding the digital economy, allowing even remote locations to seamlessly participate in global commerce.
In the U.S. alone, consumers engage in an average of 14 different digital activities each month, according to data from PYMNTS Intelligence. Things like paying bills online, making telehealth visits, streaming music and videos, and shopping and paying for groceries and retail products using digital payments and apps. .
PYMNTS’ Karen Webster said last month (September 3) that as digital becomes the DNA of business, success will no longer be measured by the products a company makes or sells, but by how well it creates an ecosystem that connects traditional activities. We talked about how you can build and monetize it. Industrial sector.
“As we have written many times, payments are the foundation of this digital transformation,” she wrote.
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See more: Amazon, Big Tech, Cable, Connected Economy, Digital Economy, Digital Transformation, Google, Infrastructure, Internet, Internet Cables, Meta, Microsoft, News, PYMNTS News, Submarine Cables, Technology
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