The answer it seems is securing digital trade routes. The difference it seems is the depth of hte pocket.  Rod has discussed this come up with a bunch of options about this.

Google on the other hand just bought the damn thing... scale benefits anyone?

This quote from Google clearly parallels the thoughts of Rod. 

As more and more people conduct online searches and interact with applications like Gmail, Google Earth and YouTube, we’ve had to think outside the box to create a more scalable, affordable and easy to manage network that meets our users’ needs worldwide. One of the biggest challenges we face is staying ahead of our broadband capacity needs, especially across Asia