50,000 kilometers long

Meta plans undersea cable across five continents

Meta described "Waterworth" as the "most ambitious" submarine cable project in the world.(Bild: Green Creator (KI-generiert))

The US technology giant Meta has announced plans to lay a 50,000-kilometer submarine cable connecting five continents. The company announced in a blog post that Meta intends to increase the reliability of digital data traffic. 

"Waterworth" is the "most ambitious" submarine cable project in the world, with investments amounting to several billion dollars over several years. The cable will provide "state-of-the-art" connections to the USA, South Africa, India and Brazil as well as "other regions", Meta explained.

Three new ocean corridors are to be opened up for the project, primarily to drive technological innovations in artificial intelligence around the world. AI applications are considered to be particularly resource-intensive. Data traffic with them is likely to increase further in the coming years.

There are currently around 450 cables worldwide with a length of around 1.2 million kilometers, as the US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) explained in August 2024.

Submarine cables are considered critical infrastructure. They are frequently damaged by natural disasters or anchors of ships. They can also be the target of sabotage or espionage.