China to rival US with $500M subsea internet cable plans. 2 other stories and a trivia

This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world, today

1. China to rival US with $500M subsea internet cable plans

Chinese state-owned telecom firms have announced plans to develop a $500 million undersea fiber-optic internet cable network that is expected to rival a similar U.S.-backed project.

The Chinese foreign ministry confirmed the development in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that with four people involved in the deal, the cable would link Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

Dubbed EMA (Europe-Middle East-Asia), the proposed cable reportedly would link Hong Kong to China’s island province of Hainan, before snaking its way to Singapore, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and France.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement that it “has always encouraged Chinese enterprises to carry out foreign investment and cooperation” without commenting directly on the EMA cable project.

China’s three main carriers – China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom), China Mobile Limited, and China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd(China Unicom) – are mapping out one of the world’s most advanced and far-reaching subsea cable networks.

Tech Trivia: What type of component might add USB ports to a desktop computer?
A. eGPU
B. SSD
C. Memory module
D. Expansion card
Answer: see end of post

2. Tencent and ByteDance’s Douyin to reach video cooperation pact

Internet leaders Tencent and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, agreed on Friday to promote both short and long videos as part of healing relations that have frequently been characterized by legal disputes and public spats.

Read also:Nigeria’s mobility startup, Shuttlers, secures $4M new funding. 2 other stories and a trivia

Douyin disclosed the development in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

According to the statement, Douyin, which is owned by ByteDance like TikTok, is permitted to use Tencent Video material, and guidelines for the creation of secondary content have been clarified.

Ripples Nigeria is aware that Tencent, which supports Kuaishou Technology, a competing short-video platform, had long been annoyed by the way certain Douyin users would create short movies utilizing pirated content from larger videos without getting permission.

“The latest development not only helps to settle the ongoing IP disputes but also helps to lay a framework for future collaborations between the two video platforms,” MorningStar analyst Ivan Su said.

3. Soft Space secures $31.5m in Series B funding round

A Malaysian fintech, Soft Space, has secured $31.5m in a Series B funding round led by Southern Capital Group.

Joel Tay, CEO of Soft Space confirmed the funding in a media release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

Launched in 2012, Soft Space claims it operates a payments platform that enables businesses to provide a “frictionless” payments experience for customers.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the investment also saw participation from returning investor Transcosmos Inc, strategic investor JCB, and venture capital fund Hibiscus Fund, jointly managed by RHL Ventures and South Korea’s KB Investment.

Tay says the fresh funding will help the Malaysian firm “expand our global footprint and widen our customer base” as the company looks to further develop its full-stack platform.

The Kuala Lumpur-based fintech company claims it also harnesses data to provide its business customers with actionable insights and ensures clients remain compliant with regulatory standards.

Trivia Answer: Expansion Card

An expansion card is a printed circuit board that can be installed in a computer to add functionality to it.

For example, a user may add a new graphics card to his computer to give it more 3D graphics processing power.

By Kayode Hamsat

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