Meta announces world’s longest subsea cable project

Meta has unveiled one of the most ambitious subsea cable infrastructure initiatives to date: Project Waterworth.

Once completed, the colossal infrastructure project will stretch over 50,000 kilometres—surpassing the Earth’s circumference and making it the world’s longest subsea cable deployment.

The project aims to link five major continents, including North America, South America, Asia, and Africa.

According to Meta, this endeavour is set to “enable greater economic cooperation, facilitate digital inclusion, and open opportunities for technological development” in these areas.

India, in particular, could witness significant digital acceleration under the plan, which aligns with the nation’s ambitions to foster a rapidly growing digital economy.

Subsea cables: The backbone of global connectivity

Subsea cables form the infrastructure backbone of the modern digital age, carrying more than 95% of intercontinental internet traffic.

From facilitating real-time communication and video streaming to powering transactional platforms and cloud-based services, subsea cables are foundational to how the world stays connected. Unfortunately, it’s the reason they’re being increasingly targeted.

Project Waterworth is a multi-billion dollar investment, spanning several years. Meta plans to open three new trans-oceanic corridors to enhance global digital highways with “abundant, high-speed connectivity needed to drive AI innovation around the world.”

Meta continues to pioneer subsea cable advancements

This isn’t Meta’s first foray into subsea cable development. Over the past decade, the company has spearheaded the construction of more than 20 subsea cables in partnership with various collaborators.

Meta’s earlier projects include the deployment of cutting-edge cables boasting 24 fibre pairs—a leap forward from the industry norm of just 8 to 16. These projects have provided unprecedented capacity to meet the increasing demands of an interconnected world.

With Project Waterworth, Meta looks to push the boundaries of engineering even further. The initiative will pioneer new design innovations to ensure cable resilience; a vital consideration for an infrastructure project of such length and complexity.

The company is also employing innovative routing techniques, focusing on laying cables in deep water at depths of up to 7,000 metres. Such decisions are intended to enhance resilience to environmental risks, such as damage from ship anchors and other hazards near the coast.

Additionally, enhanced burial techniques are being employed in high-risk fault zones to extend the cable’s longevity and minimise disruption.

Supporting the AI revolution

Meta argues that the world’s increasing reliance on AI heightens the demand for robust and expansive connectivity.

“AI is revolutionising every aspect of our lives, from how we interact with each other to how we think about infrastructure,” the company says.

As AI accelerates innovation across industries, Project Waterworth is expected to offer the global reach and capacity required to support emerging technologies. 

Meta emphasises its commitment to ensuring that “the benefits of AI and other emerging technologies are available to everyone, regardless of where they live or work.”

The tech giant’s investment in transformative infrastructure could also have profound socioeconomic implications for developing regions.

By bridging connectivity gaps, Project Waterworth could foster global participation in the digital economy and democratise access to resources that drive education, employment, and technological advancement.

As AI adoption continues to grow and billions of people increase their reliance on digital services, projects like Waterworth will be essential in ensuring the scalability, speed, and inclusiveness required to keep the world connected.

(Photo by Javier Miranda)

See also: Ericsson, Telstra, and Qualcomm shatter 5G uplink speed record

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Tags: ai, artificial intelligence, broadband, connectivity, digital transformation, infrastructure, meta, Networks, subsea cables