Meta has unveiled its most ambitious subsea cable project to date: Project Waterworth.
This multi-billion dollar, multi-year investment will span over 50,000 km, connecting five major continents and making it the world’s longest and highest-capacity subsea cable project.
“Once complete,” according to a company announcement, the project “will reach five major continents and span over 50,000 km (longer than the Earth’s circumference), making it the world’s longest subsea cable project using the highest-capacity technology available.”
Project Waterworth will deliver industry-leading connectivity to the U.S., India, Brazil, South Africa, and other key regions, aiming to boost economic cooperation, digital inclusion, and technological development.
According to a blog post by Meta’s VP of engineering, Gaya Nagarajan, and global head of network investments, Alex-Handrah Aimé, the subsea cable will support a range of applications, including digital communication, video experiences, and online transactions.
The authors added that “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.”
Meta highlights India, where significant growth and investment in digital infrastructure has already been observed, as a prime example of where Waterworth will accelerate progress and support the country’s digital economy plans.
Subsea cables like Project Waterworth are critical to global digital infrastructure, carrying over 95% of intercontinental traffic, enabling everything from digital communication and video experiences to online transactions.
The project will establish three new oceanic corridors, providing the high-speed connectivity needed to drive AI innovation globally.
Over the past decade, Meta has partnered to develop more than 20 subsea cables, including deployments of industry-leading 24 fiber pair cables, significantly more than the typical 8 to 16 fiber pairs found in other new systems.
This commitment to infrastructure innovation addresses the growing global demand for digital connectivity.
With Project Waterworth, Meta said it is pushing engineering boundaries to ensure cable resilience.
The project will be the longest 24 fiber pair cable system in the world, featuring enhanced deployment speeds.
Innovative routing techniques will maximize cable placement in deep water (up to 7,000 meters), and improved burial methods will protect the cable in high-risk areas like shallow coastal waters.
“AI is revolutionizing every aspect of our lives,” the company stated, “from how we interact with each other to how we think about infrastructure – and Meta is at the forefront of building these innovative technologies.”
Meta’s Project Waterworth isn’t its first foray into subsea cables. The company is already a part owner of 16 existing networks, including the 2Africa cable, alongside carriers like Orange, Vodafone, China Mobile, and Bayobab/MTN, according to TeleGeography.
However, Waterworth marks Meta’s first wholly owned subsea cable project.
This puts Meta in a similar position to Google, which TeleGeography reports is involved in 33 routes, including some solely owned regional projects.
Other major tech players like Amazon and Microsoft participate in subsea cable projects as part owners or capacity buyers but do not fully own any routes themselves.
As AI continues to transform industries and societies, robust, resilient, and globally accessible infrastructure is paramount.
Project Waterworth aims to ensure that the benefits of AI and other emerging technologies reach everyone, regardless of location.