Meta Platforms has announced a $10 billion plan to build an undersea fiber optic cable that will stretch over 40,000 km.
The cable will trace a giant “W”-shaped route, connecting the east coast of the United States to India through South Africa and returning to the west coast of the United States through Australia. The route avoids unstable regions, including the Red Sea and the South China Sea.
The project will be completed in several phases, with an initial investment of $2 billion. Specialized ships will lay the cable for several years.
Unlike previous shared initiatives, Meta will be the exclusive owner of this cable, prioritizing data traffic for platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which drive significant global internet traffic.
India, one of Meta’s largest markets, is expected to be a major beneficiary.
Google cables
On November 25, Google unveiled plans for two new undersea cables as part of its Australia Connect initiative, aimed at strengthening connectivity in the Indo-Pacific. The first cable, “Bosun”, will connect Darwin to Christmas Island and Singapore, while the second will connect Melbourne, Perth and Christmas Island, integrating with the “Honomoana” system that connects Australia to the United States and French Polynesia.
Google is involved in numerous undersea cable projects around the world, both as a sole investor and in collaboration with partners. These projects include:
- “Curie”: Connects the United States to Chile, was Google’s first private undersea cable in Latin America, completed in 2019.
- “Dunant”: transatlantic cable connecting the United States to France, operational as of 2020.
- “Equiano”: Connects Portugal to South Africa along the west coast of Africa, this cable became operational in 2022.
- “Grace Hopper”: Connecting the United States with the United Kingdom and Spain.
- “Firmina”: Connecting the United States to Argentina, Firmina is one of the longest submarine cables.
- “Honomoana and Tabua”: These cables connect the South Pacific, improving connectivity between Australia, Fiji and French Polynesia.
- “Apricot”: This cable connects Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore.
- “Umoja”: Announced in 2024, this 13,000km submarine cable will connect Kenya to Australia across the Indian Ocean.
Vulnerability
This news follows tension surrounding regional security.
In mid-November, two submarine cables in the Baltic Sea connect Sweden to Lithuania (“BCS East-West Interlink”, owned by Arelion, former Telia Carrier) and Finland to Germany (“C-Lion1”, owned by Cinia Group, a Finnish telecommunications company), would have been sabotaged.
Sweden is leading the investigation and has requested China’s cooperation. The Chinese ship “Yi Peng 3” was present near the severed cables and remains under European naval surveillance in the Kattegat Strait.
Reports suggest the vessel may have intentionally dragged its anchor to the seabed, but China’s Foreign Ministry has denied involvement.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has called the Baltic Sea a “high risk” area, although sabotage is not confirmed.
This follows recent incidents of subsea infrastructure disruption in the region, including the Nord Stream pipeline explosions and damage to the Balticconnector pipeline.
Regional leaders, meeting in Harpsund, Sweden, cited growing “hybrid warfare” threats, including sabotage and espionage, and NATO increased patrols in response.
Cables, cables everywhere
Google and Meta’s investment reflects a broader trend of tech giants moving towards control of critical infrastructure traditionally dominated by telecom operators.
The “backbone” of the Internet is made up of high-speed fiber optic cables and routers capable of transmitting enormous amounts of data, and exchange points where different networks connect. Smaller companies or individual websites use Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to access this backbone. The ISP owns or leases access to parts of the Internet infrastructure and physically connects its data centers or networks to routers at Internet exchange points.
Large companies like Google often connect directly to the backbone. Google negotiates peering agreements to exchange traffic directly. These agreements are usually “settlement-free,” meaning neither party pays the other because the traffic exchanged is balanced. However, when there is an imbalance in traffic or when direct peering is not feasible (for example, in areas where Google does not have its own infrastructure), the company pays providers to transport its data.
The benefits for tech giants to own their own cables include:
- Direct control over data traffic, ensuring greater reliability, higher speeds and reduced latency for services such as Google Search, YouTube or Facebook.
- Lower operating costs in the long term.
- Tailored capacity, ensuring that high-bandwidth services such as cloud computing, video streaming and AI data processing run optimally.
- Supporting emerging markets, which can increase user base and revenue.
- Ability to route cable to bypass geopolitical hotspots.
- Reduced exposure, compared to using a third-party cable, to bandwidth outages or bottlenecks, or to surveillance, sabotage, or data breaches.