Building the Digital Highway: Meta’s 50,000km Subsea Cable

Meta has announced its most ambitious subsea infrastructure project yet—Project Waterworth, a 50,000km-long subsea fibre-optic cable system set to transform global digital connectivity. Once complete, this multi-billion dollar initiative will surpass the Earth's circumference and establish new intercontinental digital corridors. The project aims to enhance internet access across key regions, including the United States, India, Brazil, and South Africa, boosting economic cooperation and technological development.

Subsea cables play a crucial role in modern telecommunications, carrying over 95% of intercontinental data traffic. The increasing demands of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, cloud computing, and high-speed digital services have further intensified the need for faster, more resilient infrastructure. Meta has been a pioneer in subsea cable development, previously deploying industry-leading 24-fibre pair systems, offering significantly higher capacity than conventional systems.

Deploying subsea cables is a highly technical process, requiring specialized vessels to lay cables along the ocean floor. However, engineering challenges such as deep-sea trenches, fault zones, and geopolitical concerns make these projects complex. The Atlantic and Pacific ocean floors present extreme depths of up to 7,000 meters, requiring innovative solutions like enhanced cable burial techniques to prevent damage from anchors and natural disasters.

Recent events, such as the 2024 subsea landslide off the coast of Ghana, which disrupted internet services across West and Central Africa, highlight the vulnerabilities of underwater infrastructure. Project Waterworth incorporates advanced routing and reinforcement techniques to ensure maximum durability and uninterrupted connectivity.

Meta is directly linking Project Waterworth to the growing demand for AI-powered services, which rely on ultra-fast data transmission. Technologies such as Meta AI Assistant and Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses require massive bandwidth and low-latency connections. This initiative will bolster AI-driven innovations, ensuring that the next generation of smart technologies is accessible to users worldwide.

As the digital landscape evolves, Meta’s investment in global connectivity will shape the future of AI, cloud computing, and data-driven economies. Project Waterworth is not just about building cables—it’s about building the foundation for the next era of digital transformation.

The following video discusses the Meta announcement for the world's longest undersea cable, spanning 50,000km.