Meta has announced plans to build a 50,000km (31,000 miles) sub-sea cable worldwide. The tech giant said Project Waterworth – connecting the US, India, South Africa, Brazil, and other regions – will be the world’s most extended underwater cable project upon completion. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, aims to extend its technological presence beyond social media, including advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and foundational infrastructure.
The company states that its new cable project will provide “industry-leading connectivity” to five major continents, supporting its AI initiatives and boosting connectivity along the world’s “digital highways.”
This project will enable greater economic cooperation, facilitate digital inclusion, and open opportunities for technological development in these regions,” Meta said. The cable will be the longest to date using a 24-fiber pair system, resulting in higher capacity. Subsea cables have become increasingly critical, providing the backbone for a variety of digital services and fast data transfer worldwide.
One commonly cited statistic suggests that more than 95% of the world’s internet traffic is transferred through undersea cables. Telecommunications market research firm TeleGeography reports over 600 publicly known subsea cable systems worldwide, including the 45,000km-long 2Africa cable, backed by Meta and other mobile network operators. Major tech firms serving as web service providers have invested significant amounts in cable infrastructure.
Google announced in 2024 the construction of the first sub-sea cable connecting Africa and Australia, along with a $1 billion investment to enhance connectivity to Japan with two new sub-sea cables in the Pacific Ocean. Over the past decade, there has been a shift towards these cables being increasingly laid by large technology companies,” said Professor Vili Lehdonvirta of the Oxford Internet Institute.
Meta’s global digital connectivity venture
Historically, national telecom firms laid and financed underwater cables due to their significant investment requirements. Prof. Lehdonvirta notes that this shift highlights the growing financial strength of big tech firms, enabling them to fund such infrastructure independently — a development that could have policy implications concerning concentration in digital markets. Telecoms and technology industry analyst Paolo Pescatore emphasized Meta’s ambitions.
“Meta has shown a strong desire to own more of the connectivity slice,” he said. “This further demonstrates its effort to surpass rivals by tightly integrating hardware, software, platform, and its growing connectivity aspirations,” he added. The increasing importance of sub-sea cables has raised concerns over their vulnerability to attacks or accidents.
Due to several recent incidents of severed cables, experts warn that undersea communications infrastructure is becoming a focal point for geopolitical tensions. NATO launched a mission in January to enhance surveillance of ships in the Baltic Sea, and a UK parliamentary committee has called for evidence of the UK’s resilience against potential disruptions. The committee expressed concerns over “Russian and Chinese capabilities to threaten undersea infrastructure during periods of heightened tension or conflict. Meta announced in its Project Waterworth blog post that it would lay its cable system up to 7,000 meters deep and employ “enhanced burial techniques in high-risk fault areas, such as shallow waters near the coast, to avoid damage from ship anchors and other hazards.”
Prof.Lehdonvirta noted that the project diverges from more established routes by skipping Europe and China, thereby avoiding “geopolitical hotspots” such as the Suez Canal and the South China Sea. He added that connecting the US with major, contested markets in the Southern Hemisphere could be perceived as “bolstering US economic and infrastructural power abroad.”
Meta’s Project Waterworth marks a significant development in global digital infrastructure. It aims to enhance connectivity and support technological advancements across major continents. As tech giants increasingly invest in subsea cables, the geopolitical and economic implications of such projects continue to draw attention.
Image Credits: Photo by Yannis Papanastasopoulos on Unsplash
