Topaz

Overview

Topaz is a trans-Pacific submarine cable system connecting Canada, Japan, and Taiwan. It spans one of the most active intercontinental corridors in the Pacific, linking the west coast of North America with landing points in East Asia. The cable has been in service since 2023 and is owned entirely by Google.

Route and Landings

In Canada, Topaz lands at two locations on the Pacific coast of British Columbia: Port Alberni and Vancouver.

In Japan, the cable reaches shore at Shima and Takahagi, two established landing points that serve connectivity into the Japanese mainland.

In Taiwan, the cable lands at Toucheng, on the island's northeastern coast.

Ownership and Operators

Topaz is wholly owned by Google. Google has invested extensively in privately owned submarine cable infrastructure across the Pacific and Atlantic basins, operating cables that support its global network of data centers and cloud services.

Technical Profile

Specific capacity figures, fiber pair counts, and supplier information are not part of the public record for Topaz. As a cable placed into service in 2023, it reflects the construction standards and deployment practices of the current generation of high-capacity trans-Pacific systems.

Status and Timeline

Topaz entered service in 2023 and has been operational for approximately three years. Its status is in service.

Regional Context

The Canada–Japan–Taiwan corridor is served by several long-established cables. EAC-C2C, APCN-2, the Trans-Pacific Express (TPE) Cable System, and the New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable System all operate across portions of this route, with ready-for-service dates ranging from 2001 to 2018. JUPITER, which reached service in 2020, also connects Japan across the Pacific. Topaz is among the more recently deployed systems in this corridor, entering service after all of those peers. TPU, currently planned for 2026, will add further capacity connecting Taiwan.

Taiwan is a relatively concentrated landing environment, with 14 cables serving just eight landing points. Japan hosts a significantly broader infrastructure base. Canada's Pacific cable landings are anchored primarily around British Columbia, where both of Topaz's Canadian terminations are located.

Recent latency measurements across Topaz show an average round-trip time of 148.6 ms, with a best recorded value of 142.6 ms, based on 38 ping tests conducted over the past 60 days.

Strategic Role

Topaz provides Google with direct submarine cable capacity between western Canada and two major East Asian economies. By landing at two separate points in British Columbia and at two separate points in Japan, the cable distributes traffic across multiple coastal nodes rather than concentrating it at a single landfall. The Toucheng landing in Taiwan extends the system's reach into an island that hosts a dense cluster of international cable landings relative to its coastline. Together, these five landing points give Topaz geographic spread across the northern and western Pacific.