Meta Plans $10 Billion Dedicated Subsea Cable Spanning the Globe
Meta takes its infrastructure into its own hands with plans for a massive 40,000-kilometer subsea cable that it will solely own and operate. The $10 billion project aims to support the company's growing AI-driven internet traffic.
Meta plans to build a massive 40,000-kilometer fiber-optic subsea cable that spans the entire globe in a "W" shape. The project represents a major infrastructure milestone because Meta acts as the sole owner and user of the cable, marking a first for the tech giant. This multi-billion-dollar effort aims to support the immense data demands of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, which already account for 10% of all fixed internet traffic and 22% of all mobile traffic worldwide.
The initial budget for the ambitious project sits at $2 billion, but experts predict the total cost climbs past $10 billion as construction extends over several years. The planned route starts on the East Coast of the U.S., routes to India via South Africa, and then connects to the West Coast of the U.S. via Australia. Meta keeps the project in its early stages and plans to share more official details, including the exact route and capacity, in early 2025.
A significant challenge delays the completion of this dedicated data pipe, as the global supply of specialized cable-laying ships remains extremely tight. Industry analysts note that these limited resources are expensive and booked out several years in advance by other major tech companies like Google. To navigate this bottleneck, Meta likely constructs the massive network in separate segments rather than all at once.