By Granth Vanaik

April 10 (Reuters) - Google will invest $1 billion to

improve digital connectivity between the U.S. and Japan through

two new subsea cables, the Alphabet-owned firm said on

Wednesday amid a visit by the Japanese prime minister to boost

ties between the countries.

The two subsea cables, Proa and Taihei, will improve

connectivity between the U.S., Japan and multiple Pacific island

countries and territories, Google said in a blog post.

"Building on the U.S.-Australia joint funding commitment for

subsea cables last October, the United States and Japan plan to

collaborate with like-minded partners to build trusted and more

resilient networks and intend to contribute funds to provide

subsea cables in the Pacific region," a United States-Japan

joint statement said on Wednesday.

The Pacific region has become a great area of interest for

China and the U.S., who are jostling for influence in the zone

with competing offers for infrastructure and military

partnerships.

President Joe Biden has pushed for U.S. dominance in

telecommunications services, seeing the industry as a key

national security issue due to its control over information

flows worldwide.

The U.S. pledged last year to jointly fund two undersea

cables, to be built by Google, connecting the U.S. territory of

Guam with hubs in Fiji and French Polynesia, and further

branching out across remote Pacific Islands.

Google said the Proa subsea cable would connect the U.S.,

Japan, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)

and Guam, while the Taihei subsea cable would connect the U.S.,

Japan and Hawaii.

Additionally, Google said it would fund the construction of

an interlink cable connecting Hawaii, the CNMI and Guam.

The tech giant also said it would work in collaboration with

Japanese-based companies - including KDDI, Arteria Networks,

Philippines-based Citadel Pacific and the CNMI - to improve the

digital connectivity in the region.

Subsea cables are the backbone of the internet, carrying 99%

of the world's data traffic.