Meta has announced its plan for a subsea cable that will span the globe, connecting emerging economies such as India, South Africa and Brazil to the US.
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp’s parent company announced what is known as Project Waterworth in a blog post.
The social media giant’s vice-president of network engineering, Gaya Nagarajan, and Alex-Handrah Aimé, its global head of network investments, said the 50,000 km cable will be the world’s longest, and use “the highest-capacity technology available”.
Regions of rapid economic growth will be connected directly to the US through the cable, which the Meta executives said “will enable greater economic cooperation, facilitate digital inclusion and open opportunities for technological development in these regions”.
Meta said it has already developed over 20 subsea cables. “With Project Waterworth, we continue to advance engineering design to maintain cable resilience, enabling us to build the longest 24 fibre pair cable project in the world and enhance overall speed of deployment,” wrote the Meta executives.
The multibillion-dollar investment, which will see cables laid at depths of 7,000 meters, will take years to complete, but promises increased access to high-speed connectivity, which it said could, for example, support artificial intelligence (AI) innovation across the world.
“AI is revolutionising 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,” the company said. “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.”
The blog post added: “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.”
While subsea cables promise to enable global connectivity, there are concerns over how these costly and critical infrastructures can be protected from attacks from hostile states.
MPs and peers recently launched an inquiry into the UK’s ability to protect undersea internet cables that link the country with the rest of the world. This followed heightened threats of sabotage.
The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, which scrutinises government decision-making on national security, aims to assess the UK’s readiness for potential attacks on critical undersea communication cables.
The inquiry followed a statement by defence secretary John Healey, warning that Russian president Vladimir Putin is targeting the UK’s undersea oil, gas, electricity and internet cables after a Russian spy ship entered British waters.
According to the parliamentary committee, 99% of the UK’s data passes through undersea internet cables.
“As the geopolitical environment worsens, foreign states are seeking asymmetric ways to hold us at risk,” said committee chairman Matt Western. “Our internet cable network looks like an increasingly vulnerable soft underbelly. There is no need for panic – we have a good degree of resilience, and awareness of the challenge is growing. But we must be clear-eyed about the risks and consequences: an attack of this nature would hit us hard.”
The global internet, which is critical for international communications and commerce, relies on a network of 500 cables that carry 95% of internet traffic. The cables are often in remote places, making them difficult and expensive to monitor.
