In the midst of the Japanese prime minister's tour to strengthen connections between the two nations, Alphabet-owned Google announced that it will invest $1 billion to expand digital connectivity between the US and Japan through two new subsea cables.

According to Google, the two underwater cables, Proa and Taihei, will enhance connection between the US, Japan, and many Pacific island nations and territories.

China and the United States are battling with one another for influence in the Pacific region by making proposals for military alliances and infrastructure.

President Joe Biden has advocated for American leadership in the telecommunications sector, viewing the sector's influence over global information flows as a critical national security concern.

Last year, the US committed to co-financing two underwater cables that Google was to build. These cables would connect Guam, US territory, to hubs in Fiji and French Polynesia, and they would also spread out across distant Pacific Islands.

According to Google, the Taihei underwater cable would link the United States, Japan, Hawaii, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The Proa subsea cable would link the US, Guam, and Japan.

Google also declared that it will provide funding for the building of an interlink cable that would link Guam, the CNMI, and Hawaii.

In order to enhance the digital connectivity in the area, the tech giant further declared that it will cooperate with Japanese businesses, such as KDDI, Arteria Networks, Citadel Pacific, which is situated in the Philippines, and the CNMI.

With subsea cables, which handle 99 percent of global data traffic, the internet is supported.