Meta Set to Construct Record-Breaking Undersea Cable for Global Connectivity

Meta is set to construct the longest undersea cable in the world, designed to link the United States, India, South Africa, Brazil, and other regions. The owner of platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp plans to build a 50,000 km (31,000 miles) cable that surpasses the Earth’s circumference. This initiative aims to ensure that artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are accessible globally, as stated in a recent blog post.

Named Project Waterworth, this venture will create “three new oceanic corridors, delivering the high-speed connectivity necessary to foster AI innovation worldwide,” according to Meta’s engineering blog. The Global Digital Inclusion Partnership, an organization advocating for universal internet access by 2030, refers to subsea cables as the “backbone of the internet.” They report that approximately 95% of internet traffic is carried by these cables, although access remains inconsistent, particularly affecting the most marginalized groups in society.

In a related report, the partnership highlighted how increasing data traffic via subsea cables can stimulate competition and improve bandwidth availability, ultimately reducing the cost for each gigabyte of data.

“Tackling affordability barriers may yield significant benefits, particularly for low-income individuals who are especially sensitive to pricing. This includes many women, people living in rural locations, and other marginalized communities, such as those with disabilities,” they remarked.

Meta has already laid more than 20 subsea cables, while technology entrepreneur Elon Musk is employing low-orbit satellites to enhance internet connectivity. Musk’s Starlink satellites serve different objectives, connecting remote and hard-to-reach areas where subaqueous cables would struggle. Stargazers have even reported sightings of the trains of satellites gliding across the night sky, including in the UK in recent years.

This new subsea cable project by Meta is expected to incur billions in costs and take several years to finalize. The company describes it as its “most ambitious subsea cable endeavor to date.”