Meta Unveils Project Waterworth: A 50,000 km Subsea Cable to Boost Global Connectivity and AI Innovation

Meta plans undersea cable to link five continents

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta has said it will lay an undersea cable stretching across five continents to carry data, including for developing artificial intelligence. The cable will run for more than 50,000 kilometres (31,000 miles) between the US, South Africa, India, Brazil and "other regions", Meta wrote in a blog on Friday. Global digital communication relies on a vast network of undersea conduits, with roughly 1.2 million kilometres of cable already installed, according to a 2024 report by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Digital giants like Meta have recently muscled in to the world of subsea cables, long dominated by specialist companies like America's SubCom, France's ASN, Japan's NEC and China's HMN. Intercontinental data flows underpin swathes of global economic activity, but suffer regular accidental damage from incidents like underwater landslides, tsunamis or dragging ship anchors. They can also be targets for deliberate sabotage and spying. NATO in January launched dedicated patrols of the Baltic Sea after suspected attacks on telecom and power cables that experts and politicians have blamed on Russia. Dubbed "Project Waterworth", Meta's plan aims to "strengthen the scale and reliability of the world's digital highways... with the abundant, high speed connectivity needed to drive AI innovation". The company said the cable project represented a "multi-billion-dollar, multi-year investment". Meta's explicit citing of AI as a reason for laying the cable highlights the technology's bottomless appetite for data, likely to push global digital traffic ever higher in the years to come.

Meta confirms 'Project Waterworth,' a global subsea cable project spanning 50,000km | TechCrunch

Back in November, we broke the news that Meta -- owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with billions of users accounting for 10% of all fixed and 22% of all mobile traffic -- was close to announcing work on a major new, $10 billion+ subsea cable project to connect up the globe. The aim was to give Meta more control over how it runs its own services. Today, Meta confirmed details of our report: Project Waterworth is the official name, and it will be 50,000 kilometers long when completed, making it the world's longest subsea cable project. Lining up with what we had heard about the project months ago, the network will connect up five continents with landing points in the United States, Brazil, India, South Africa, and other key regions. Facebook particularly calls out the opportunities in India, and the role that the network will play in how it rolls out AI services globally, as two key reasons for building the network. In terms of the network itself, Meta says it will be breaking new ground with its architecture, using 24 fiber pair cables, and what it describes as first-of-its-kind routing, "maximizing the cable laid in deep water -- at depths up to 7,000 meters" along with new burial techniques to reduce faults in areas deemed "high risk," either because of geographical issues, or politics -- and sometimes both. Previously, we noted that one of the major factors in the market influencing Meta to build its own subsea infrastructure was geopolitics. That has indeed played a role here. On Thursday, the White House published a joint leaders statement from U.S. President Trump and India's prime minister Shri Narendra Modi, which detailed a lengthy list of areas where the two countries would cooperate. Tucked into that long document was a commitment to co-developing undersea technologies (as part of a defense partnership) as well as a note of Meta's 50,000km Waterworth project, and India's role in financing some of it. "Supporting greater Indian Ocean connectivity, the leaders also welcomed Meta's announcement of a multi-billion, multi-year investment in an undersea cable project that will begin work this year," the statement noted. "India intends to invest in maintenance, repair and financing of undersea cables in the Indian Ocean, using trusted vendors." As for what the cable will be used for: In November, one of our sources postulated that the growth of AI data centers and cloud services in India, the world's most populous country, was a significant reason for Meta's project in the first place. Meta has declined to comment to us on more specific details but provided some high-level ideas of applications and highlighted the country and AI in its blog post. "Digital communication, video experiences and online transactions," are among the applications that the subsea cable will enable, according to a blog post penned by Meta's VP of engineering Gaya Nagarajan and its global head of network investments Alex-Handrah Aimé. "Project Waterworth will be a multi-billion dollar, multi-year investment to strengthen the scale and reliability of the world's digital highways by opening three new oceanic corridors with the abundant, high speed connectivity needed to drive AI innovation around the world." This is not Meta's first subsea cable effort, nor is it the only major technology company to build its own subsea infrastructure. According to telecom analysts Telegeography, Meta is part owner of 16 existing networks, including the 2Africa cable that encircles the continent (others in that project are carriers, including Orange, Vodafone, China Mobile, Bayobab/MTN, and more). This new cable project would be the first wholly owned by Meta itself. That would put Meta into the same category as Google, which has involvement in some 33 different routes, including a few regional efforts in which it is the sole owner, per Telegeography's tracking. Other Big Tech companies that are either part owners or capacity buyers in subsea cables include Amazon and Microsoft (neither of which are whole owners of any route themselves).

Meta Unveils 50,000 Km Waterworth Subsea Cable Project to Boost AI and Global Connectivity

The 24-fiber pair system will surpass the standard 8-16 fiber pair technology. Meta has announced Project Waterworth, which the American company calls its most ambitious subsea cable endeavour. Once completed, the cable, using the highest-capacity technology available, is set to become the world's longest, spanning over 50,000 km -- longer than the Earth's circumference. This project will connect five major continents, including the US, India, Brazil, and South Africa, the company said on Friday, February 14, 2025. Also Read: Meta Plans USD 10 Billion Subsea Cable to Manage Global Data Traffic: Report Meta highlighted that this project will enable greater economic cooperation, facilitate digital inclusion, and open opportunities for technological development in these regions. "For example, in India, where we've already seen significant growth and investment in digital infrastructure, Waterworth will help accelerate this progress and support the country's ambitious plans for its digital economy," it said. According to Global Digital Inclusion Partnership, subsea cables handle over 95 percent of intercontinental internet traffic, enabling seamless communication, online transactions, and AI-driven applications. According to the website, the Global Digital Inclusion Partnership is a coalition of public, private, and civil society organisations working to bring internet connectivity to the global majority and ensure everyone is meaningfully connected by 2030. "Project Waterworth will be a multi-billion dollar, multi-year investment to strengthen the scale and reliability of the world's digital highways by opening three new oceanic corridors with the abundant, high-speed connectivity needed to drive AI innovation around the world," Meta said. Also Read: Meta Announces USD 10 Billion AI Data Center in Louisiana According to the statement, Meta has developed over 20 subsea cables over the past decade in collaboration with various partners. The Waterworth subsea cable will be a 24-fiber pair system, compared to the standard 8-16 fiber pairs of other new systems. "With Project Waterworth, we continue to advance engineering design to maintain cable resilience, enabling us to build the longest 24 fiber pair cable project in the world and enhance overall speed of deployment," Meta said, adding, "We are also deploying first-of-its-kind routing, maximizing the cable laid in deep water -- at depths up to 7,000 meters -- and using enhanced burial techniques in high-risk fault areas, such as shallow waters near the coast, to avoid damage from ship anchors and other hazards." "AI is revolutionizing every aspect of our lives, from how we interact with each other to how we think about infrastructure - and Meta is at the forefront of building these innovative technologies. As AI continues to transform industries and societies around the world, it's clear that capacity, resilience, and global reach are more important than ever to support leading infrastructure. With Project Waterworth we can help ensure that the benefits of AI and other emerging technologies are available to everyone, regardless of where they live or work," Meta elucidated. Also Read: Meta Plans to Invest up to USD 65 Billion in AI in 2025 This announcement follows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to the United States to meet US President Donald Trump. In late January 2025, Meta unveiled its roadmap for AI in 2025, where the company announced increased investment in AI infrastructure, with plans to allocate USD 60-65 billion in capital expenditures (CapEx) to enhance its AI initiatives in 2025. Read more about it from the story linked. In a joint statement earlier this week, both India and the US welcomed Meta's announcement supporting greater Indian Ocean connectivity. The leaders of both countries committed to deepening bilateral dialogue and cooperation across the Indian Ocean region and launched the Indian Ocean Strategic Venture, a new bilateral, whole-of-government forum to advance coordinated investments in economic connectivity and commerce. "Supporting greater Indian Ocean connectivity, the leaders also welcomed Meta's announcement of a multi-billion, multi-year investment in an undersea cable project that will begin work this year and ultimately stretch over 50,000 km to connect five continents and strengthen global digital highways in the Indian Ocean region and beyond. India intends to invest in maintenance, repair and financing of undersea cables in the Indian Ocean, using trusted vendors," the statement from the White House and India's Prime Minister's Office read.