Meta is planning a 40,000 km long undersea cable that will connect the Earth in a 'W' shape, and construction costs could reach more than 1.5 trillion yen
Submarine cables that run along the ocean floor are essential for various Internet services such as social media and video streaming services, and in recent years, major technology companies have increasingly invested in the construction of submarine cables. In November 2024, technology media TechCrunch reported that Meta plans to independently lay a 40,000 km long submarine cable.
Meta plans to build a $10B subsea cable spanning the world, sources say | TechCrunch
Meta is building the 'mother of all' subsea cables - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/29/24308746/meta-10-billion-global-subsea-cable-project
Meta develops services such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and its products and users account for approximately 10% of total fixed traffic and approximately 22% of total mobile traffic. In recent years, Meta has also been actively investing in AI, and securing a reliable infrastructure is essential for AI business.
In October 2024, Subsea Cables & Internet Infrastructure, a blog focusing on submarine cable projects, reported that Meta plans to lay a submarine cable. Now, TechCrunch has confirmed that Meta plans to lay a 40,000 km submarine cable, citing sources close to Meta. What is important about this project is that Meta will be the sole owner and user of the submarine cable spanning the world.
Submarine cable expert Sunil Tagare told TechCrunch that while Meta's undersea cable project is expected to start with a budget of $2 billion, the cost is likely to exceed $10 billion as the project progresses and drags on.
According to a source close to Meta, the project is still in the early stages and details have yet to be finalized, but Meta plans to confirm the planned route, capacity and reasons for construction in early 2025.
At the time of writing, the ability to build undersea cables is limited to a few companies like
'Demand for submarine cable vessels is really tight. These vessels are expensive by the minute and are booked up years in advance. Finding available resources to lay submarine cables is a challenge,' said Ranulph Scarborough , an analyst in the submarine cable industry. One way Meta could solve this problem would be to build each segment needed to lay a submarine cable.
For many years, undersea cables have been part of the telecommunications infrastructure funded and owned by telecommunications carriers, but in recent years, large tech companies have also started to invest in them. Meta already owns parts of 16 existing undersea cables, Google owns about 33 regional undersea cables, and Amazon and Microsoft also reportedly own parts of undersea cables or buy capacity.
Meta's owning of the world's largest undersea cables would directly translate to the ability to deliver product content and advertising. 'Tech companies make money by delivering their products to end users, and they do everything they can to ensure that customer experience, whether that's delivering video or delivering other content,' Scarborough said. 'Frankly, who is going to rely on traditional telecommunications companies? Tech companies are independent now and they realized they have to build their own undersea cables.'
In addition, there are geopolitical issues surrounding high-tech companies owning their own undersea cables. In recent years, there have been frequent reports of undersea cables being damaged as collateral damage or direct damage caused by war. In February 2024, an undersea cable connecting Europe and Asia through the Red Sea was severed due to an attack by Yemeni militants. In November, the Chinese cargo ship 'Yipeng 3' was sailing through the Baltic Sea with anchors down, causing the severing of two undersea cables.
Investigators suspect that the Chinese vessel Yipeng 3 intentionally dragged its anchor over 160km to cut undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, possibly on Russian orders - GIGAZINE
The diagram below shows the route of the undersea cable that Meta plans to build. First, it will cross the Atlantic Ocean from North America to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, then cross the Indian Ocean and pass through the west coast of India. It is assumed that the 'W' shaped route will then pass through the north coast of Australia, cross the Pacific Ocean, and reach the west coast of the United States. This route will avoid areas of geopolitical risk such as the Red Sea , Egypt, the South China Sea , and Singapore .
Tagare also speculated that the cable would go through India because Meta is building an AI training base in the country. India has significantly lower computing bandwidth costs than the United States, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang visited India in October and said , 'It makes sense for India to manufacture its own AI,' drawing attention to the country's potential as a center for AI infrastructure.
In response to the allegations, a source close to Meta said it was too early to tell if AI was involved in the project, and Meta declined to comment on TechCrunch's article.
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