Meta unveils plan for world’s longest sub-sea internet cable spanning five continents

Meta has unveiled its plan to build the world’s longest underwater cable spanning 50,000km and a staggering five continents.

Meta has unveiled its plan to build the world’s longest underwater internet cable, spanning a staggering five continents to support its AI projects. 

The tech giant announced Project Waterworth will bring industry-leading connectivity” to the US, India, South Africa, Brazil and other key regions, dubbing it its “most ambitious sub-sea cable endeavour yet”.

The cable will be the longest in the world to use a 24 fibre-pair system, reaching 50,000km, longer than the Earth’s circumference. 

“This project will enable greater economic co-operation, facilitate digital inclusion, and open opportunities for technological development in these regions,” Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said in a statement. 

The cable will be the longest in the world to use a 24 fibre-pair system, reaching 50,000km, longer than the Earth’s circumference. Picture: Meta

A map of a planned route released by Meta shows landing points in the US, Brazil, South Africa, India and Australia, skipping Europe.

“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,” the tech giant said. 

Meta said the project is its “most ambitious sub-sea cable endeavour yet”. Picture: Julien De Rosa/AFP

“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. We are also deploying first-of-its-kind routing, maximising the cable laid in deep water — at depths up to 7,000 metres — 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.” 

Over 95 per cent of international data is transferred through cables on the world’s sea floor, according to the US’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

In Australia, Perth is connected to four international cables, namely from Oman, a major cable which lands in 30 countries across Asia and Europe, plus two more cables from Singapore.

The global submarine cable network. Picture: Submarine Cable Map / TeleGeography

Norway releases Russian-crewed ship after cable damage

In recent months, cables in the Baltic Sea have been subject to suspected sabotage amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

In January, Sweden and Latvia said a fibre-optic cable linking the Swedish island of Gotland to Ventspils in Latvia had been damaged.

Police in Norway last month released a Russian-crewed cargo ship seized over suspected involvement in the damage after finding no evidence linking it to the incident.

The Norway-flagged “Silver Dania” was sailing between Saint Petersburg and Murmansk when a Norwegian coastguard ship stopped it off the coast of Tromso in northern Norway.

“No findings have been made linking the ship to the act,” police attorney Ronny Jorgensen said in a statement.

“The investigation will continue, but we see no reason for the ship to remain in Tromso any longer,” he added.

The incident came after two telecom cables in Swedish waters were severed in November 2024. The Estlink 2 electricity cable and four telecom cables linking Finland and Estonia were also damaged on December 25.

– With AFP