TRANSPAC or Trans-pacific cable (TPC) is a series of undersea cables

Submarine communications cable

A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....

 under the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

.

Transpac 1

TRANSPAC-1 (TPC-1) was opened in 1964. It connected Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, The Philippines, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 and Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. It had a capacity of 142 channels. TRANSPAC-1 was part of the network that supported the Apollo 11

Apollo 11

In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...

 moon landing mission in 1969.

Transpac 2

In 1975, Transpac-2 (TPC-2) connected Guam, Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, Hong Kong and Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 with 845 channels.

Transpac 3

Transpac 3 (TPC-3), which went into service April 18, 1989, increased capacity to 3780 channels.

TPC-5CN

The TPC-5CN

TPC-5CN (cable system)

TPC-5CN or Trans-Pacific Cable 5 Cable Network is a submarine telecommunications cable system linking Japan, Guam, Hawaii and mainland USA.It has landing points in:*Ninomiya, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan*Bandon, Coos County, Oregon, USA...

cable network is a 25,000 km fiberoptic ring, carrying 5 Gb/s in each channel.

History

1975	Shore-end cable section (Guam) and shallow sea section of the No.2 Trans-Pacific Cable (TPC-2) Shore-end cable section (Okinawa) and shallow sea section of the No.2 Trans-Pacific Cable (TPC-2)
1987	Shore-end cable section (Chikura side) and shallow sea section of the No.3 Trans-Pacific Cable (TPC-3)
1988	No.3 Trans-pacific Cable (TPC-3) (Laid cable length: approx. 3,834 km)
1991	No.4 Trans-Pacific Cable (TPC-4) (Laid cable length: approx. 1,259 km)
1993	Shore-end cable section (Ninomiya side) and shallow sea section of the No.5 Trans-Pacific Cable Network(TPC-5)
1993	Shore-end cable section(Ninomjya side)of the No.5 Trans-Pacific Cable Network(TPC-5)
1994	Shore-end cable section(Miyazaki side)of the No.5 Trans-Pacific Cable Network(TPC-5)
1995	No.5 Trans-Pacific Cable Network(TPC-5) (Laid cable length: approx.2,958Km)